Brothers Betrayed
by The Titan's Shadow
Summary: Zane is captured by General Cryptor and his Nindroid army, and sent to be "cleansed". Will the rest of the Ninja be able to fight one of their own, and save him at the same time? Rated T for violence. Constructive critisism is appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter #1

Jay P.O.V.

I couldn't believe it. Zane was gone, taken by Nindroids. And we didn't do anything to try and stop them. Cole seemed calm and even on the outside, as he always did, but I could see the hurt and pain in his eyes. Kai on the other hand, well, he was bawling his eyes out, with Nya trying in vain to comfort him. As for me, I was trying my best to act like Cole, not only for everyone else's sake, but because it was what Zane would've wanted us to do. _Zane_. Just saying his name now stung like a bee, like the name of someone you would never see again.

* * *

 _10 minutes ago; 11:39 am_

Zane P.O.V.

"Leave my friends alone!"

I could feel my brothers' gazes on me, but I didn't care. Cryptor began to chuckle, a cold, heartless, chuckle.

"Why should I, foolish ninja?" Cryptor sneered, staring behind me, towards my brothers.

For once, I had no answer. Suddenly, it all clicked together.

"Take me, then, if that is what you truly want, but leave my family alone!" I shouted as confidently as I could.

That took everyone by suprise. I could see the suprise on Cryptor's face. To my side, I could hear Cole attempt to break free from his Nindroid captors, all the while shouting his negative response, but was subdued and struck across the face for both attempting to escape and for speaking up.

"Very well, then," I could heard Cryptor say, and my world very suddenly, turned to black.

* * *

 **Well, that was the first chapter of Brothers Betrayed! If you spot any spelling/grammar mistakes, please let me know! Hopefully I'll be able to update every week or every other week but I may update sooner.**

 **-Titan's Shadow**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Captured

 _Cole P.O.V, 6 hours later_

 _Brothers_ ,

 _If you are reading this, then it means that I am gone, most likely captured. Do not worry for me, I will be fine. However, my logic parameters are telling me that the percentage that are that one or more of you are injured is more than 75%, most likely by the altercation before I was captured. I cannot be certain if I will ever come back, but in the event I never come home, do not despair, for I will always be with you._

 _Love, Zane_

I read the letter one more time, just to make sure that I had read it correctly. I couldn't believe it. Zane was really gone, and we did nothing to stop it from happening. I knew it was his choice, but I still felt tremendously guilty for not trying to talk him out of it.

"Cole? You in there, buddy?" asked a muffled voice from outside.

"Yeah, come in Jay," I replied.

"Look, I know this is tough, but we need you, more than ever, to keep this team together. Do you even know what's going on outside? Lloyd's trying to keep everyone from bursting, Kai's crying his eyes out, Nya's stressed from trying to keep Kai together, and you're just sitting here, staring at a piece of paper!" Jay cried.

"This isn't just 'a piece of paper' Jay, this is a letter Zane left for us!" I exclaimed.

Nya walked in asking, "Hey, is everything okay, I heard shouting, and then silence. Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, everthing is great Nya! _Just_ _GREAT!_ You know, Zane just got kidnapped, the whole team is falling apart, and Cole's just staring at the last thing we have to remember Zane by! So YEAH! Everything is _just_ GREAT!" Jay screamed.

"Shut the hell up Jay! We already lost one brother, we don't need to lose another within the same 24 hours!" I could see the hurt in Jay's eyes, and I honestly didn't know wether I should've just left, or apologized, but the question was left unanswered as Jay attempted to apologize first.

"Look, I'm sor-"

"No. It's alright. I shouldn't have lashed out. Here, take this, read it over, then pass it on to someone else. I know for certain that that's what Zane would've wanted." I told him.

"Ok. I will."

* * *

 **So, that was Chapter 2 of Brothers**

 **Betrayed! I hope it was as good as the first chapter, or maybe better! As always, if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, tell md in a review, or just review to give me any CC!**

 **P.S. Thanks to storiesaremagic for the review he/she wrote, it really gave me the little encouragement I needed to write another chapter, because I honestly wasn't expecting anybody to read this except for my good friend of mine at school, her user is fangirlofitall.**

 **So yeah, hopefully Chapter 3 will be out in the next 2-5 days (depending on if I have anything I need to do).**

 **See ya'll later, and cookies and cake for everyone!**

 **-Titan's Shadow**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Cleansed

 _Zane P.O.V.: 24 hours following to Zane's capture_

 _Pain. A cold, numb, pain_.

Waking up in chains blindfolded, to the pain of a taser, was _not_ fun.

"Rise and shine, you pile of scraps," Cryptor taunted. "It's almost time for you to be cleansed."

"What is this, 'cleansing'? I asked.

"Nothing you need to know, for now." Replied the nindroid general. And with that, there was silence prevailed once more.

 _Kai P.O.V.: Approximately 3 hours later_

"Kai? _Kai?_ You still there, hothead?" Questioned a muffled voice. A slap then followed.

"Hey! Ow! What the heck was that for, Jay?" I cried. He promptly shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe just to see how you would react. Maybe because _Zane's still missing and we're doing nothing about it!"_ Jay screamed.

"Wait, _what?_ Oh, right. Zane sacrificed himself. It should've been me."

"Yeah? Well it wasn't, so bite the bullet and suck it up, because Cryptor still has Zane, and we need everyone we have to help. Speaking of which, where's Lloyd? I haven't seen him in a while."

"Last I saw him, he went into Zane's room, I think." I responded.

"Oh. Ok. I'll go check, see if he can help." Jay said, and then he left. Silence once again.

 _We miss you Zane. Just hang tight. We're coming to get you._

 _Zane P.O.V.(Again, I know. It'll be good [probably] I swear) 28 hours following Zane's capture_

Footsteps. That was how I gauged whether or not anybody was nearing my area of the "prison". This time, I sensed 3 pairs of footsteps. Rough hands soon grabbed my arms.

"Get up. It's time to be cleansed." A brisk, authoritative voice called.

 _Cryptor_.

After what I assumed was 145 meters of walking, the blindfold, gag, _and_ cuffs came off. After adjusting to the dimly lit room with internal night vision, I was greeted with the sight of Cryptor, two Nindroid soldiers, and a cot, accompanied by multiple mechanical tools and a rather large computer.

"We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. One, you could comply with our demands and go through this process rather comfortably, or you could attempt to fight back, resulting in further injury. Your choice, scrap heap." Cryptor stated.

I contemplated my choices, and came to a conclusion.

"I will cooperate. I'd rather get this over with quickly than this, 'other option'." I replied.

"Good choice. To begin, go over, take off your shirt, and lay on the cot. We will continue further after temporarily shutting you off." Cryptor instructed.

I obliged, removing my drab t-shirt given to me upon arriving at the Nindroid base. I walked over, laying on the cot.

"Good night, little ninja."

 **Soooo, Chapter 3. Sorry for the cliffhanger. But I will try my damnedest to get the second half(I guess) of this "cleansing" up today, so look out for those. Also, thank to everyone who reviewed/ reviews on these chapters. Without you guys, I wouldn't have continued this story. So with that out, cookies and cake for all!**

 **\- Titan's Shadow**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, here it is, more torture for me to write, and you to read. Hopefully I won't lose viewers because of this. So before you read on, there's something you should translate. If you translate the right thing, I will shout you out in the next chapter! Easy as that. Good luck readers!**

* * *

Chapter 4: Rebirth

 _Cryptor P.O.V. 30 hours following Zane's capture_

"Do a diagnostics scan. We need to make sure this scrap of junk is fit for fighting condition when he wakes up."

"Yes sir!"

 _Internal Diagnostics Scan: in process_

 _3\. . ._

 _2\. . ._

 _1\. . ._

 _. . . Internal Diagnostic Scan complete. Processing current information_

 _01001001 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000_

 _01110100 01110010 01100001 01101110 01110011 01101100 01100001_

 _01110100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001_

 _01110011 00101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01100111_

 _01100001 01110010 01100001 01110100 01110011 00101100 00100000_

 _01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110100 01110010 01100001_

 _01101110 01110011 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100100_

 _00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101111_

 _01110010 01110010 01100101 01100011 01110100 00100000 01110100_

 _01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110 00100000 01001110_

 _01101111 01110111 00100000 01100111 01101111 00100000 01110100_

 _01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000_

 _01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100100 01101001 01100100_

 _00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001_

 _01101110 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110010 01100101 01110110_

 _01101001 01100101 01110111 00100000 01100001 0110111 01100100_

 _00100000 01110100 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101101_

 _01100101 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000_

 _01100010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001 00101110_

 _Process complete_

"Very good. This bot is in better condition than I thought. B-7-9-1, go complete the rest of the procedure."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

 _No P.O.V._

Nindroid B-7-9-1 was just doing his job. He did not like it, but he didn't hate it. But he couldn't show either emotions, as he would be disassembled if he did. He was a mistake in General Cryptor's eyes; he felt emotions, like the first Nindroid. He only kept him around because he was good with repair, along with other tasks. This was one of those aforementioned tasks. Brainwashing the first Nindroid and turning him against his own family. It was disgusting in his own opinion. But he couldn't show it. Not now, not ever. So he continued. Messing around with his neural chip, his emotions, his personality, but he didn't need to change much with that. The White Ninja was already cold, calculating, and intelligent. But it was in good ways. So he changed them to bad, in a sense. He turned off his memory switch, ensuring he wouldn't remember anything, and putting duct tape on top, so the switch wouldn't flap back to on by a freak accident.

After two more hours of labor, B-7-9-1 was done. Nearly everything that made the White Ninja a good person, was gone or replaced with a worse version of himself.

"Sir?"

"What is it, B-7-9-1?!"

"I'm done. The White Ninja is completely gone. We can proceed with phase two now."

Cryptor walked in, saying, "Good, good. The Overlord will be pleased. Good job B-7-9-1."

"Thank you, sir."

* * *

 _Zane P.O.V. 5 minutes following Zane's "Rebirth"_

 _Brothers_. The first word that popped into my head. _A good man_. Where were these thought coming from? _Missing_. Is that me? _Zane_. That's it! My name was Zane, and I was, no, am a Nindroid. But where am I?

"Ah, there he is. Glad you woke so soon, brother." Spoke a black clad man.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked the mystery man.

"You don't remember me? What did they do to you? Do you remember any of us?" The man seemed frightened. "I am Cryptor, your brother. We are all your brothers."

"Who is 'they'?" I questioned.

"The Ninja. They took you from us, brainwashed you, removed parts of you that made you unique, and made you their maid, their slave." Cryptor informed.

I suddenly felt a pang of guilt, but it was quickly replaced with a raging anger.

"Where are they? I want to kill them! For what they did to you, for what they did to me!"

"Calm, brother. You will get your chance very soon. Here, take your armor and clothes, and meet me in the garage. If you get lost, ask anybody, and they will direct you there, or you could just ask B-7-9-1, he will be your servant, per say. _Ave de IMPERITO!_ "

I grunted, "Very well, _Ave de IMPERITO_ "

* * *

 **So now seen what the Nindroids are capable of. Also, in this fanfic, the Nindroids wear urban camo and ballistic armor with baklavas instead of what they actually wear. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Also, the next few chapters have a chance of quite a shower of blood and gore, most likely next chapter. Most broken bones and some blood, but nothing too over the top. So just saying. Also, remember to translate anything that isn't english. Thanks to fangirlofitall and storiesaremagic yet again for the help and encouragement, it really means a ton. See ya next chapter!**

 **\- Titan's Shadow**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, so nobody has translated the correct phrase, the closet I received was "hail the unskilled," from fangirlofitall, which is incorrect, it's actually, "hail the Overlord", hence _ave de IMPERITO,_ you had to type it into Google translate exactly as it is in the text, or you will get "hail the unskilled", or something else. The correct translation was in binary; you can copy and paste, or just type it in yourself. I might add more Latin phrases in this story, depending on how you guys like it. If not, I won't. just a little warning, there are implied suicidal thoughts, so if you are sensitive around that subject, just skip Lloyd's P.O.V. I start, I'd like to thank Candaru for an unforgiving but detailed review on my flaws, and for editing this chapter. It was a pleasure working with them on this. I'd love it if I could get more reviews like that, just don't be smashing, because that's when I personally draw the line. So here's to a hopefully better story from now on!**

* * *

 _Chapter 5: Breakdown_

 _Zane P.O.V., 30 minutes after "Rebirth"; 5:47 P.M._

"So, where is the garage, B-7-9-1?" I asked yet again.

"Down the hall, take a right, down the stairs, and directly to the right…sir!" The small Nindroid replied.

"Thank you, and make sure my armor is on correct, please," I directed politely.

"Yes sir!" my aid chimed.

* * *

 _Cole P.O.V., 6:20 P.M._

"Sooo, who's turn is it to cook today?" I questioned innocently.

Kai growled, "Zane, you idiot. We all know that, no need to reopen that wound."

"Ok, ok, no need to get all angry. How 'bout I cook today? It seems like nobody else is willing to cook," I replied apologetically.

"Oh no you don't! Your cooking is worse than getting spit on by a Venomari!" Jay chimed. "I'll whip up some tempura shrimp, figure I might try that recipe Za– never mind," he stopped abruptly, but we all knew what he was about to say.

"Actually, I'll go get Lloyd. He hasn't come out of his room for a while, and I don't think he's eaten anything ever since…you know," Nya declared.

"Good idea, Nya, I'll go with you," Kai added.

And with that, I was alone.

"Well, may as well go help Jay," I told myself.

* * *

Cryptor P.O.V. 6:40 P.M.

"He's not here yet, how much longer must we wait?" a grunt questioned.

"He will come, now shut your mouth before I weld it shut, private!" I snapped back.

The recruit immediately hushed, allowing me to ponder a question I had asked myself moments ago. _Why can I feel emotion, but every other one of my brethren cannot?_ After a few moments passed, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of combat boots clicking against the concrete floor.

"Ah, General Cryptor, there you are. I hope I did not arrive too late," a neatly dressed soldier called.

"Please, no need for formalities, and no, you are not too late, in fact, you came at the perfect moment!" I quickly called back.

"Good, I wouldn't have wanted to hold back the company," Zane responded politely, quickly walking towards me, with B-7-9-1 right behind him.

I was taken aback by his politeness, when I realized that B-7-9-1 must've kept parts of his politeness intact, hopefully only to his new Nindroid brothers, and the Overlord.

"Indeed, now let's get going, we have a group of Ninja to capture! _Ave de IMPERITO!_ I shouted.

" _Ave de IMPERITO!_ Repeated one hundred and forty-five soldiers, including Zane and B-7-9-1.

I smiled to myself. _This is going to be easy, now that we have one of the Ninjas' own brother in our possession._

* * *

 _Lloyd P.O.V., 6:45 P.M._

 _Failure._

 _A disappointment._

 _You could barely even take care of yourself, why did you expect you could take care of one of your own?_

The thoughts raced through my head, but it wasn't those thoughts that caused me the most pain. It was the fact that I knew they were true. All of them were true.

"Lloyd? You in there, kid?" Kai asked from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, come in Kai," I responded bitterly.

The door opened, revealing not only Kai, but also Nya. Nya looked pretty bad, but not nearly as bad as Kai. His eyes were bloodshot and sunken, probably from crying and guilt. I couldn't imagine I looked any better. At least Kai ate. Me, on the other hand, I haven't eaten in almost a week.

"How are you doin', kid? You don't look all that good." Nya looked worried. "C'mon, let's go, Jay's making tempura shrimp. You need to eat, or you're gonna die."

"Why would it matter if I did? It's not like I was much help when Zane got captured!" I yelled back.

"Hey, kid, what's gotten into you? You don't deserve to die, and you're most definitely _not_ a failure, if that's what you think you are," Kai jumped in.

"What do you know about what I think?! I doubt anybody would miss me if I died!" I shrieked.

"Hey! Calm down! You don't deserve to die, and it isn't your fault Zane got captured!" Cole walked in, surprising all of us.

"I thought you were helping Jay make dinner," Nya inquired.

"Yeah, I was, but we finished, so I came to tell you guys that dinner was ready, when I heard you guys yelling, so I ran in," Cole clarified,"and I saw… well _this_."

"Oh, sorry, you didn't need to see this," I apologized quickly.

Cole grunted,"Nah it's alright. We're all going through the same thing as you, just not as _extreme_ as you."

"I second that," Kai agreed, "You shouldn't put yourself down so harshly, it's hurting not just you, but all of us. We need you now more than ever, since Zane is gone."

"He's not gone, just captured," I said warily, "and we _will_ get him back."

"You're right, we will get Zane back, just not today; for now, let's just see if Jay's tempura is any good compared to Zane's," Nya joked.

* * *

 **My god, this both _is_ the longest chapter I've written, and it took the longest to write! Hopefully it will be good, because I'm not so sure myself! Also, huge thanks to Candaru for editing this chapter twice(or was three times?) and for providing notes in addition! Hopefully the next chapter will be about the same length as this chapter, and coming out in a week or two! With that, cookies and cake for all!**

 **-Titan's Shadow**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Confrontation

 _Zane P.O.V.,15 minutes prior to "The Siege"_

"Convey the plan again," I whispered to a nearby radio operator.

"Yes sir! Initiate a mock fight with us whilst making a large racket, baiting the ninja to investigate. When they see you, they will rush to help. Then we will feign defeat, and retreat, while the Ninja take you in once again, assuming they have you in their care once again. Once you are in the Ninja's home, pretend that you miraculously made it out, wait until they sleep, bind their hands, and return to the rendezvous point with the Ninja in tow," the comms handler replied quietly.

"Thank you, now please alert Cryptor that I have initiated Phase One, and that he may begin our mock duel," I commanded.

"Wilko. Raven One, this is Raven Two, Phase One is a go, I repeat, Phase one is a GO," the Nindroid reported.

"Ten-four, Raven Two. See you on the other side," Cryptor confirmed on the other end of the radio.

oOo

* * *

 _Nya P.O.V., 3 minutes prior to "The Siege"_

"Uh, Kai! Truth or Dare!" Jay shouted out of the blue.

"Huh? Wh-what? Dare?" Kai jumped from the couch, where he had been peacefully sleeping.

"Ha! Gotcha there! Now kiss Cole!" Jay teased.

"Wait, what? Why do _I_ have to be in the dare?" Cole asked.

"Oh, you're _so_ getting it now, zap trap," Kai growled. "You've got 'till the count of ten, so you better start running."

"Like you could ever catch _me!_ " Jay squealed, running away quickly.

"But _I_ will!" Cole shouted.

 _I love those idiots_ , I thought to myself. I walked out onto the deck of the Destiny's Bounty, admiring the view of the full moon, when I heard swords clashing and a cry of pain. It was a sound I had not ever heard from a very specific person, yet I knew the voice very well. _Zane_.

I bolted back in, to the sight of Cole and Kai pinning Jay's arms to the ground, trying to get him to apologize.

"GUYS, STOP! Zane's outside fighting somebody, we need to go help him!" That got their attention.

"Are you sure?" Cole asked, stoic as ever.

I nodded. "I heard a cry of pain, but I know it was him," I replied.

"A cry of pain? Zane never complains or make a sound about his injuries. They must've beat him up bad!" Kai realized.

"You're right. Let's go get back our brother before it too late!" Cole rallied.

"What's going on, why are you guys shouting?" Lloyd walked in, clearly having just awoken from a nap, asked blearily.

"We found Zane. Or rather, Zane found us. But he brought some friends with him," Cole informed.

That woke Lloyd up. "Let's go then, what are we waiting for?" he shouted. "C'mon, we don't have all day, now!"

* * *

 _Cryptor P.O.V., Phase One of "The Siege"_

 _There is no way that the ninja will fall for this, I'm not attacking aggressively enough_ , I thought, urging myself to push Zane a little more than I was supposed to. His icy blue eyes betrayed a look of surprise for a moment, but he quickly covered it up with a counter to the light push I gave him. I noticed his shoulders tense, a telltale sign that he was about to strike.

He lunged, a basic attack, easy to counter. I easily countered with a riposte, followed by a lunge of my own. He stumbled back, but simply got back up. He chuckled quietly, but loud enough for me to hear. Loud shouting caught both of our attention, but we kept fighting, for the sake of looking realistic.

"Hey! Leave our brother alone!" The black ninja yelled.

Zane's face darkened. Clearly he didn't like being associated with him. _Perfect_. He nodded slightly, my cue to hit him with such force he would be propelled back towards the Ninja, and more Nindroids would flood into the forest's remote clearing.

I disarmed him, and punched him in the gut with enough pressure to break three bricks, _stacked_. However, Zane, and all other Nindroids, had frames made of titanium, so the worse thing that happened to him was a small dent on his control panel.

As more Nindroids flooded into the area, a fight ensued. To my left, the black and red ninja were fighting a group of heavily armored specialists. To the right, the blue and white Ninja fought a squad of infantrymen, a meager task for Zane, as he had previously fought and two entire battalion before being overwhelmed by a third.

 _Now is the time_ , I thought. "Retreat!" I bellowed.

Multiple staff sergeants quickly repeated the order to all their troops, signaling the beginning of Phase Two.

* * *

 _Lloyd P.O.V., 8 minutes following initiation of "Phase Two"_

"Zane!"

"You're back!"

"What did they do to you?"

"Guys! Stop! You're gonna kill Zane before he even gets to rest!" I shouted.

The room became silent. If we were on land, I would've sworn you would hear the grasshoppers chirping.

"Ah, thank you Lloyd. Please tell me brothers, what would you like for dinner?" Zane asked, already walking towards the kitchen.

"Wait, what?! You just escaped from the grasp of evil Nindroids, and you ask what we want for _DINNER?!_ You, good sir, are crazy," Jay announced.

Zane just nodded, but for a second I thought I saw a glint of evil in his ice blue eyes. I quickly banished the thought. _Zane would never turn evil, why do you think he would all of a sudden?_ I asked myself.

After great consideration, A.K.A. a vote, we decided on gyūdon, or beef bowl, with a side of tofu. In the grand scheme of things, it should've taken Zane no more than an hour and a half to prepare, cook, and serve, but after half an hour, I went to check on him.

"Hey Zane, how are you?" I asked.

No response.

"Zane? You ok there? Zane?" I repeated.

He started to shake, and I realized what he was looking at. A set of knives. More specifically, _his_ set of knives. He quickly slid down to the floor, his face blank. Suddenly, his hand shot out and grabbed mine. He pulled me down to his level, and whispered, "I can't control it. Good luck,don't believe anything I say, and do not hesitate to strike if the time comes." He then quickly got back up, like nothing ever happened, and began cutting various sorts of meats and vegetables for tonight's dinner.

* * *

 ***Cue dramatic _bum bum bum!*_ Before i forget, _BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!_ I will be on hiatus 4/26/18 - 5/5/18 because I will be on vacation, _somewhere_. close friends who read this will know where I'm going, but you will not. I'm hoping to get 2-4 chapters up before the vacation, and I think it will be doable, considering this was written and approved in two days(YAY!), so yeah, hiatus soon=no chapters=sadness for me (hopefully) you, the average reader. on that note, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and plot twist, and cookies for all!**

 **-Titan's Shadow**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Betrayal

oOo

 _Kai P.O.V., 2 hours following initiation of "Phase Two": 9:45 P.M._

"Wow, Death Brick IV was better than all the last ones combined!" Jay shouted. "We should watch it again later!"

"Whoa, calm down there, Sparky. I think you're on your sugar high, because you are _loud_ ," Cole stated matter-of-factly.

"No, really, Cole? You think he's loud? He's always loud, Dirtclod," I retorted.

"You know what? I think I'm gonna go to sleep now," Lloyd announced.

"I think I'm going to hit the hay, too," Cole agreed.

"What? Why? I was–" Jay began.

"No, you don't! You, sir, are going to bed," Nya stopped Jay from playing another movie, and ushered him towards the boys' room, much to the dismay of the blue ninja.

Zane started to walk out the living room, looking back. "I believe I will go meditate. Goodnight, brothers."

We all walked towards our room. Before we walked in, Lloyd pulled me aside, dragging me back out into the hallway.

"Hey, did you see anything off about Zane?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, he was quiet, but he's always quiet, so no, why?" I replied.

He shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you anyways," he said quietly.

"Tell me, you know I would at least _try_ to understand," I whispered.

"Fine. You know when I went into the kitchen to check on Zane?" I nodded my head.

"Well, he was kinda shaking, just staring at his knives, you know, the sharp ones? Anyways, I tried to get his attention, and then he just slid down to the floor." He stopped.

"And then?" I probed.

"Well, he kinda grabbed my arm, and then he said that he couldn't control it, and not to believe anything he said," Lloyd finished.

"Honestly, I believe you, I just don't know what to think about it. Let's just hope it was Jay messing around with his wires or something…" My voice trailed off.

"Yeah, you're right," Lloyd walked back into the room, and I quickly followed, changing and brushing my teeth almost immediately.

As I climbed onto the top bunk, Cole looked at me. Living with him for so many years, I knew he wanted to ask me a question.

"What do you want to know, Cole?" I sighed.

"What were you guys talking about?" He inquired.

"Nothing we need to worry about, hopefully," I responded.

oOo

 _No P.O.V., 4 hours following initiation of "Phase Two": 11:19 P.M._

 _They did you wrong, why are you hesitating?_ A voice nagged at the back of Zane's head. _They seem like good people, they don't deserve this,_ he thought, but the Nindroid ultimately decided that it would be best to follow through with the plan. He walked into the Nya's room first, believing he would encounter the least resistance there. Lightly tapping her shoulder, Zane woke the young samurai.

"Zane? What are you doing up so late?" She asked.

"Following through with orders," He responded quietly, followed by a quick injection of propofol into a critical vein.

"What are you doi–" Nya began, but quickly fell unconscious, unable to finish her sentence.

The Nindroid quickly slipped out the room, moving onto the boys' room, equipped with three more syringes. The ninja's sensei's, Wu and Garmadon, were gone, saving the Nindroids' resources, and making the capture easier. _Who would pose the largest threat to this operation?_ Zane wondered to himself. _The black one, definitely the black one._ With a quiet efficiency, the ice elemental injected an extra dose of propofol into the black ninja's bloodstream, and the customary dose for the rest. _A shame I could not retrieve the green one. He would have helped bolster my credibility with the pther Nindroids, but alas, he off, showing off to the children of Ninjago._

After gathering all the ninja together, Zane alerted Cryptor of the completion of Phase Two.

"I need an extraction helo, one of the carriers, the Ninja are heavier than one would think," he chuckled quietly.

"Copy that, carrier inbound. Good job soldier," the Nindroid general responded.

oOo

 _Cryptor P.O.V., 13 hours following the Ninja's capture: 12:45 P.M._

"They were properly awoken and fed, correct?" I asked B-7-9-1.

"Yes sir, they were shocked awake and given bitter melon and beef for breakfast and lunch," the smaller nindroid acknowledged.

"Bitter melon? How did they respond to that?" I questioned.

"Quite poorly. The blue one claimed to have an allergy to it, and requested to speak to you about it," another guard chimed in.

"You fool! The boy could've died!" I yelled angrily.

"I-I'm sorry sir! I wasn't sure if you wanted to see them!" The soldier protested.

"You know what," I growled, "you were useless anyways. The Overlord won't mind if we were short _one_ soldier. Zane, finish him."

"With _pleasure_. It was nice knowing you, insubordinate," the former white ninja replied, before shooting the guard straight in the CPU, located in the center of his forehead; a clean shot.

"Now, let's go talk to your old friends," I told Zane.

"They aren't my friends," he grumbled in return. "Just people I used to associate myself with, albeit unwillingly."

B-7-9-1 opened the cell door, revealing five empty bowls, save one with food still inside, untouched, accompanied by four bored ninja and an unconscious one. The four that were awake all jumped up, partially at the loud noise, but also at the sight of one of their own brothers clad in the gear of an enemy Nindroid.

"Good afternoon, ninja. I hope the guards weren't too rough on you," I announce.

"Leave us alone. We don't want anything to do with you, and we certainly won't do anything _for_ you," the red one growled.

"Yeah, the only thing we want is _him_ ," the blue ninja joined, pointing at Zane.

The platinum blonde only lifted him by the scruff of his neck in response. "Is that true? Well, I don't want anything to do with _you_ , so keep your mouth shut and let Cryp–" he suddenly dropped the auburn-haired boy, instead clutching his head.

All of the ninja suddenly crowded around him, concerned for his health, despite all he had done against them. The girl looked up. "What did you do to him?!" She spat, daring to look me in the eye.

The Nindroid looked up, his icy blue optics clearly confused, but they were quickly replaced with a hard look. "Get…away…from…ME!" He screamed, quickly rising and distancing himself from his once-brothers.

He looked at me for a directive. I had no other alternative but to separate all the ninja. "Separate all of them. Put them in different cells. Zane,take the blue one. B-7-9-1, get in here and take the red and black ones. I will handle the girl," I ordered. B-7-9-1 scurried in, nodding alongside Zane, who inclined his head ever so slightly.

oOo

 _Jay P.O.V.: 1:03 P.M_

Getting dragged by your own brother, who happens to also be made of metal, was not fun _. C'mon Jay, think!_ my brain told me. Zane suddenly threw me against a concrete wall. O _uch_.

"Hey buddy, don't you remember me?" I asked nervously. He tilted his head, as if considering the question.

"I do remember you," he said after a pause. "But I wish not to return to you, _scum_ ," he huffed.

That shook me to my core. Zane never called anybody anything rude. But this wasn't Zane. No, the real Zane was somewhere in there, fighting this evil form. Or was he? What if this was his true form? What if this was what he was meant to be? A voice nagged at the back of my head.

" _Please_ Zane, this isn't you! Fight it! I know you're in there, _somewhere,_ " I pleaded.

He grabbed by the neck, again. "The Zane you knew is _dead_. He died the moment _you_ let him go with Cryptor," he said, shaking me.

Suddenly, he set me down. His eyes softened, something that both scared, and relieved me. "Jay, help me," he said quietly. "I cannot control it. Please, do _not_ listen to anything I say. Do not do anything I tell you to, and most importantly, if the time arises, promise me you _will_ _not_ hesitate to strike me down. Now get away from me, before I harm you further."

My eyes began to water, but I slowly backed away from him. "Ok Zane, I promise. Goodbye."

A grunt of pain escaped Zane. It sounded so _real_ , but I knew not to approach, since it was a trap, an excuse for him to attack. He stood up, and stared at me. "Yeah, I'm sure you're wondering how your friends are. I'm sure their being tortured _right_ _now."_

"No, not really. I'm actually thinking about something else. Care for me to tell you?" I taunted.

"Sure, it's not like I've got anything better to do anyways," he shrugged.

"I wanna know, is the real Zane ever gonna come back?" I asked.

"Oh, you're going to regret saying that," Zane snarled.

He unholstered one of the multiple weapons he had slung across and holstered around his body, and I immediately recognized it as a taser. I gulped, and he chuckled with a sinister tone.

He crouched down to my level, close to the floor. "I'm going to _really_ enjoy torturing _you_ ," he whispered, and the world turned to black.

oOo

 ***Gasp* Evil Zane is _so mean._ Sorry not sorry. Not gonna lie, this was probably my favorite chapter to write so far, not just because of the evil Zane parts, but because I had to actually research some things, like ****the propofol, which _is_ a real drug, usually used as an anesthetic. But I'm not your Biology or Medical Sciences teacher. So I hope this chapter was just as good as the other ones, and that the length of it didn't mess with the quality of the story. Before I forget, Death Brick is _not_ real, just another one of my crazy ideas. And with that, cookies and cake!**

 **P.S. Sorry about the oOo thingies. FFN was refusing to give me line breaks, so I just decided to make my own. Hopefully this problem won't happen again.**

 **-Titan's Shadow**


	8. Chapter 8

**If you're sensitive to torture or violence, mental and/or physical, turn back _now_. This _will_ have torture and swearing. It's not _as_ bad in all P.O.V.'s except Jay's; his has extreme violence. I'll even put a big warning sign before that segment begins. You have been warned. On a side note, I'm not sure if this is just me, but does anybody else post a chapter thinking it's going to be great, then when you read it again, it's full of plot holes and mistakes? Eh, whatever, if you do, please tell me, but enough of my blabbering, let's charge onward to torturing the Ninja!**

Chapter 8: Living Hell

 _Kai P.O.V., 2 minutes following "Betrayal": 1:05 P.M._

"Hey! That hurt ya know!" Cole shouted, finally awake after being given a double dose of propofol.

But I didn't blame him; we were all hurt, mentally and physically. We were captured, drugged, and betrayed by our own brother, all within twenty-four hours. _At least Lloyd didn't get caught,_ I thought.

"Do you think I care if you get hurt?" The tiny Nindroid spat. "You would be dead if General Cryptor hadn't given you such mercy! Why, you would probably die slowly at the hands of your own brother!"

"He would never do anything to hurt us! In fact, he was probably just faking it all!" Cole argued, desperate to get away from his merciless captor.

"So you think he's still the same person that you abandoned?" He asked. "No, he has changed, and for the worse; he froze a man's blood three days ago, slowly too. He pleaded for mercy, _all_ the way 'till he froze to death, from the inside out. Took him a little more than half an hour to freeze up."

I tried to summon my element, but it was clear I couldn't. _Damn, must've lined this place with vengestone_ , I deduced.

"Oh, you won't be able to use your powers, not for a _long_ while. We put suppressants into your brain while you guys were out. Keeps you from tapping into you element." B-7-9-1 chuckled darkly. Suddenly, he tilted his head to the side, as if listening for something. It quickly became obvious he was receiving orders from one of his superiors, most likely Cryptor.

"Separate them? Affirmative, over and out," the sentinel abruptly grabbed me by the collar, dragging me like a dog.

 _A dog, is this what I was now?_ I contemplated. My thoughts were interrupted, though, when I was thrown against a concrete wall, then bound by frozen cuffs. Another guard peeked in, snickering when he saw my predicament. When the door closed, I realized the door was made of ice, which conjured both good and bad thoughts. _What idiots! Why would they make the door out of ice? I'm the fire ninja, for spinjitsu's sake!_ Then I realized the irony. I had no powers. I recalled what my captor had said. _This_ was why they had suppressed our powers. To make us feel weak, helpless. A cold tingling snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at my arm, which was slowly becoming pale.

I tried at the cuffs first, attempting to create at least a spark. A flicker appeared, but it went out as fast as I had created it.

My mind recalled to something Zane had told us months ago during an arctic training routine. _"Frostbite begins relatively quickly, it only takes -48º for mild frostbite to set in,"_ he had informed us before we left. _"So be sure to wear heavy coats and gloves, or at the very least multiple layers of jackets. If not, you are prone to lose and appendage, most likely fingers or toes._ "

That set my mind straight. _I am_ not _going to lose any fingers or toes, and I_ will _get out of here, elemental powers or not._

 _Cole P.O.V., 15 minutes following "Betrayal": 1:18 P.M._

 _Did Zane really do those things?_ _If so, can we really trust him anymore?_ Thoughts raced through my head, but i couldn't process all of them, but they all had the same answer: _I'll find out later_. I couldn''t bring myself to believe that Zane had done what the tiny droid had said, but what if he was telling the truth? After Kai was dragged away, I didn't really have anyone to talk to, so I just stayed quiet, thinking about a thousand different things. Without warning, the door swung open, revealing Zane. My first emotion was relief, but it was quickly replaced with a kind of fear that only came when you knew you were in _big_ trouble.

"Come here, you're coming with me," Zane announced. He grabbed me by the arm, yanking me towards him.

After a long walk, he shoved me into a room, bound me, and placed me under a suspicious looking platform. Above that was a trapdoor that looked really out of place.

"Zane, what's that for?" I adressed him by name, probably not the best idea.

"To hold some things," he replied curtly. "Have fun lifting."

The platform strated to move down, slowly but surely. I tried at the chains, but they didn't budge. After some time, I was forced to hold up the platform, which I guessed was about twenty-five pounds. In an instant, a circular shape dropped through the trapdoor, landing on top of the platform, adding about five pounds. I looked up, and saw that it was a base for a cake.

I groaned at the increase of weight. "Dammit Zane, _really? Cake?!_ "

"Yes, and it will increase by five pounds every ten minutes for an hour. After, it will be ten pounds per fifteen minutes, and so on. If you can, use your element to create tremors; if you create a strong enough tremor, the platform will break off, and you will be free, assuming you can break the reinforced door," Zane chuckled darkly as he walked out of the observation room, leaving me alone, save the sentry in the surveillance office to my left.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind letting me out, would you?" I asked sheepishly

The guard just stared.

( **WARNING WARNING WARNING!!!!)**

 _Jay P.O.V., 1 hour 47 minutes following "Betrayal": 2:50 P.M._

 _Wake up, you're about to be in trouble._

I jolted awake, expecting to see all my brothers around me, but instead I was welcomed into consciousness with pain. The agony burned into my side, and I realized that my ribs must've been broken. The door opened, and white light flooded in, blinding me. After blinking a million times, I saw Zane, standing there with a duffel bag in his left hand, and a bucket of water in his right. He looked a little surprised when he noticed that I was already awake.

"Well, this is a mild surprise. I was told you wouldn't gain consciousness until three o' clock. Oh well, at least we can get to the torturing part sooner now," he said with a cruel glint in his eyes.

My shock must have been obvious, because he snickered before setting his duffel bag on a surgical tray. When he opened it, it revealed a set of tools, perfect for inflicting pain. He started to walk towards me, picking up a pair of pliers and an iron on his way. Zane grabbed my hand, freezing it instantly. He threw the iron into a fireplace to my left, and grabbed a claw hammer. The process quickly clicked in my head. He lifted the hammer, preparing to strike.

"No. _No_. Don't do this. _Zane, please,"_ I pleaded.

He swiftly struck down, shattering my hand into pieces. Shards of my frozen hand dropped to the ground, breaking even further when it collided with the concrete. The only thing I could do was cry out. Where my hand was, there was only a stump, and blood, _lots_ of blood.

"Relax, just a bit of reconstruction will fix this easily," Zane grumbled. He grabbed a tranquilizer gun, and shot me. Before losing consciousness, I heard Zane say, "Hope he makes it, it'd be a shame if he doesn't."

 **So this chapter was not thoroughly proofread, nor was this posted with line breaks (I think). I had this huge debate with one of my friends over wether or not the Jay P.O.V. would be T rated friendly, for those of you who read it, but we decided that it was. If you think otherwise, tell me. I'll get rid of it if five people ask me to. I posted this in a rush, just sayin. COOKIES AND CAKE FOR ALL, AND EXTRAS FOR THOSE WHO REVIEW!!!!!!!!,**

 **-Titan's Shadow**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Realization

 **So I haven't quite given up on this story, if that's what you thought. I'm pretty sure this is the worst chapter that I've written for multiple reason. One, I'm on vacation, so I wasn't really paying attention to what I was typing. Two, I'm also pretty sure this is the smallest chapter besides the first few. Three, there is a 99% chance there is at least one spelling error. But besides that, I hope you'll enjoy this _bad bad_ chapter.**

 _No P.O.V._ , _3 hours, 5 minutes following "Living Hell":_ _5:55 P.M._

"How do you think he will react?" asked a faint voice.

"I do not know, but I am certain it will not be pleasant," replied another, a more familar voice.

Jay opened his eyes, and saw the forms of four people, or rather, Nindroids. Not suprisingly, one of them was Zane. The reprogrammed ninja had taken his hand.

A fact Jay had forgotten about, until he checked his left hand, only to realize that it was no longer there. He blinked, then again, and again. Still no hand, only a stump. The re-discovery shook him to his core.

The lightning elemental sighed. "You really did it didn't you?"

Zane just nodded. "Do not worry, we will have a prosthetic ready for you soon. It'll be better than your pathetic excuse of a hand."

"Like I'd take anything from _you_ of all people!" The blue ninja spat.

"So you want to play _that_ game, eh? Guess I might have to take your other hand," Zane replied, playing with a ball of ice in his hand.

The amputee yelped. "No. No. Zane, don't do this. This isn't you! You wouldn't do this!"

"You're right," he hissed. "But I'm not the Zane you knew."

The former white ninja walked out of the room, finally allowing Jay to sleep. _Again._

 _Cole P.O.V., 4 hours following "Living Hell": 6:50 P.M._

It's amazing what pain can do to the human mind. It makes you think of things you would have never thought of before. I was never one to distrust people, especially not my own brothers. _Was_.

Four hours of torment. _Four hours._ The weight increase was now twenty pounds per twenty-five minutes, assuming my math was right. Even with my basic math skills, I knew it meant that I have been carrying at least a hundred and eighty-one pounds over the span of this excruciating torture. And all of this was planned by _Zane._

For a while now, I've been trying to create a strong enough tremor to free myself, while the same guard just watched me struggle with a blank look on his face. At last, I created a powerful tremor in the earth, freeing me. The guard jumped up instantaneously, pressing a button, probably to alert Zane that I had escaped. So I did what any good brother would do.

I waited.

Maybe three minutes later, Zane came bursting in, along with the one they called B-7-9-1, and the guard that was assigned to me.

"How?" Asked the guard, astonished.

"Fool. He clearly used his element to free himself. Apparently you didn't inject enough suppresants into his bloodstream," scolded Zane, who was now what I assumed to be Cyrptor's second in command. _Cryptor._ _I'm gonna kill that bastard when I get outta here._

"So, now that I'm out, does that mean I can walk free and wait to collect my brothers, or do I have to get through you guys first?" I asked sarcastically, positioning myself into an aggresive stance.

"Ha! Real funny Cole, really," Zane sneered.

"Ya know what? I really don't like the new you, Zane. Now I'm gonna try extra hard to knock you out," I replied, and I meant every word.

"B-7, get out here. You too, grunt, and get far away. The boy is _mine_ now," Zane said, calm and cool, as he always was.

Naturally, I struck first. I poorly jabbed at Zane, knowing his next move. Exactly as I had predicted, he dodged and swung back with his left, his dominant side. I grabbed his hand and twisted it back, severing vital wires in his arm, rendering it useless. I did the same with his right leg, making him pretty much useless.

Looking around the room, I found what I was looking for; a torture chair, complete with leather straps for each limb. I grabbed Zane by the collar, and dragged him up onto the chair. After strapping him down, I opened his chest panel, searching for his power switch. Finally, I found it, saving me the hassle of knocking him out, like with a human being.

"Time to find Jay," I muttered to myself.

 _Jay P.O.V., 15 minutes following Cole's escape: 7:05 P.M._

"Jay! Jay! Wake up! _Jay!_ yelled a voice. _Ugh, someone's yelling again_. _Probably Mom._

" _Go_ _away_ _Mom._ I don't want to go to school yet," I muttered.

" _What?_ _No!_ Jay, it's me! Cole! Now get up, I need you to fix Zane!"

 _Wait, Cole? Huh, I guess I should get up._ I opened my eyes and saw Cole, not so patiently waiting for me to get up.

"So you somehow managed to turn off Zane?" I asked groggily.

"Yeah! Now get up, we need both of you guys to get Kai!" Cole replied.

"Alrighty then, lead the way!" I jumped up, ready to fix my brother.

After running around for a few minutes, courtesy of Cole's horrible navigational skills, we walked into the room that Zane was supposedly in. The proceeding scene was gruesome, or at least to any mechanic or engineer. The poor guy had an arm and a leg comepletly bent, almost to the point of tearing apart.

"Whoa! What did you do to him?! This is horrible!" I yelled.

"Yeah, I know, but you can, like, fix him, right?" Cole asked nervously.

"Of course I can fix him, but I'm gonna need an extra pair of hands," I gestured towards him.

"Me? Oh, no, I'm no good with this type of stuff!" Cole tried to get out of his new job, but I yanked him back.

Long story short, after a few hours of messing with Zane's control panel and fixing his limbs, we were finally ready to turn him back on. I flipped the "On" switch and a soft voice indicated the beginning of the process to wake up our brother.

" _Beginning reboot process,"_ it said in a monotone voice.

Another three minutes later, Zane started to open his eyes. He blinked a few times, then began to notice his surroundings. One look at the leather straps, and he started to freak a little. He tried to pull at them, but it was clear that his strength wasn't completely restored yet. Then, he saw us, and a pretty frightening look flashed across his face.

 ***Gasp* Sorry for the cliffhanger, I'm still busy on vacation. Also note, this chapter was not edited or revised, so mistakes are due. I know I said that I'll get chapters up every week, two at the longest, but I have things to do, so if it takes more than what I say, don't think I've given up or forgotten.**


	10. Chapter 10

**So before I start this chapter, I want to point somethings out.**

 **•First, I cannot belive I'm on chapter ten already. It seems like forever ago when I started this, not expecting anyone to read this. I just wanna thank everyone who supported this story like Candaru, QueenoftheJordan, Spottedfrost7, YellowstoneWolf, Stories are Magic, Fangirlofitall, and many more. Sorry I couldn't list all of you, but know I still remember all of you guys!**

 **•Second, all of this happens within the same, say two or three hours. I got a bit lazy, I admit, so it will only say "Current time" because it all happens at about the same time. I made these changes to avoid confusion, because this happens minutes after the last chapter. Before, each segment took place a few hours following the previous. So yeah, this might happen once or twice after this.** **With that out of the way, prepare for more _drama_.** **And (maybe) crying.**

 **•Third, in case you haven't noticed, I've had to change the description from hurt/comfort and adventure to angst and adventure due to previous and current, _incidents_. I'm pretty sure that none of you guys are really going to be bothered by this, but to anybody who is, best you stop reading this from now on.**

 **•Also there's more pain, so beware. I'm now gonna put the big WARNING sign this time, so just keep your eyes open if you're sensitive to that stuff.**

 _Zane P.O.V., current time: 7:48 P.M._

"Look, he's awake!" A familiar voice exclaimed. I opened my eyes to see who was there.

I opened my eyes, expecting to see Cryptor, but hoping to see Pixal. Ah, Pixal. How I longed to see her beautiful face. Such a shame she did not reciprocate the same feelings as I.

However, I was greeted with the slightly unpleasant sight of Jay, who strangely was missing his left hand. Surely a prank, simply to scare us.

"Why is your hand not present, Jay?" I asked, now curious.

His face contorted to one of anger, then fear, and finally, confusion.

"Y-you mean, you don't remember?" He asked.

"Remember what?" I asked, my face blank. "I only remember being captured by General Cryptor and then being powered off so that the Nindroids could 'cleanse' me."

Cole growled. He was clearly unhappy. "How could you feign ignorance?! You took his hand! _You_ , you monster!

"I-I don't understand. What do you mean? I have been inactive since Cryptor shut me down," I protested.

"You traitor. Get out. Just, _leave_. Go be with your real brothers, or whatever."

So I did what was requested of me. I left. Without a clue of where I was, or what had happened.

 _Cryptor P.O.V., current time: 7:55 P.M._

 **NEW DIRECTIVE: REPORT TO OVERLORD**

 **DIRECTIVE ACKNOWLEDGED**

So, I was now tasked with meeting our master. No doubt to report how the operation was going. Upon entering the large room where the Overlord resided, a juggernaut stopped me and asked for my serial number. Odd, perhaps they finally decided to upgrade their security.

"Serial identification must be proven to further proceed," the hulking soldier stated.

"Acknowledged. Serial number 001-100-015."

"Serial identification confirmed. Access granted."

I walked into the grand throne room, to see the red ninja chained to the ground, helpless as a pup. It was quite amusing, but a small nagging feeling at the back of my CPU told me it was wrong. It just didn't seem honorable to so mercilessly berate someone who already at perhaps the lowest point of their life. Or perhaps these thoughts are only coming to me because of previous trauma. But what trauma?

 ***Flashback (No P.O.V.)***

"So, what is this project again?"

" _This,_ is my newest project! I call it, Project Steel Vengeance! C'mon Cryptor, you gotta endorse this project! This will make your PMC _so_ much stronger! It'll make you the leading defense company in all of Ninjago!" Dr. Anker exclaimed.

Justin Cryptor grumbled. " _Fine._ But only because I've known you for five years now."

Anker cracked the slightest hint of a smile. "Thank you, Justin. You will handsomely rewarded for this."

"Humph, don't get me started."

"Do you want to help me with the first part?" Dr. Anker asked.

"Sure, why not?" Cryptor replied.

"Alright, I'll do the first part." Anker lunged for a shock baton, set it to the highest setting, and struck Justin Cryptor.

 ***End of flashback***

 **PERSONAL OPINION IS IRRELEVANT**

My core processor was correct. Personal opinion did not matter. The only thing that did was serving the soon Golden Master. _Or was it?_

 **TREACHEROUS OPINION IS PROHIBITED**

Of course, of course. Now, to proceed with the weekly report. I bowed quickly, a customary sign of respect.

"Good morning, sire, shall we begin immediately?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course, you imbecile! Tell me, how is Operation Black Ice? Last you reported, the white ninja was performing perfectly, exactly how I had expected." My master was currently on a pleasant mood, I had deduced. Normally he would yell much more.

"Operation Black Ice is running smoo–" A guard bursted in, cutting me off.

"Sir!Theblackninjabrokeoutandthenbrokeouttheblueninjathenthewhiteninjagotcapturedandreprogrammedandnowtheyarecomintogettheredninja!" The sentinel yelled.

"Calm down, corporal. Tell us again, but slower. I do not think anybody understood a word you said." I soothed the soldier down, something I never thought I would do.

 **THOUGHT IS NOT RELEVANT**

"The black ninja broke out and then broke out the blue ninja and then they fixed the white ninja and now they are looking for the red ninja." He looked around nervously, as if they would come at any moment.

The red ninja perked up upon hearing the news. However, my leader had other plans. He grabbed him by the collar, shoved him onto a table, and snapped both his legs, immobilizing him. He cried out in pain. I felt bad for him, for a part of me knew it wasn't his fault. But another part of my processor also knew it was not my place to feel remorse towards anybody, especially the enemy. The Overlord tossed him to the ground, as if he were a broken toy, crushing his already destroyed legs further. My medical database scanned him, and confirmed my suspicions.

"Cryptor! Get rid of this pathetic boy! He is not worthy of residing within this court. Hell, throw to his friends. The white ninja is no longer with us anyways. Give them some time to recover. I want to play with my prey."

I bowed. "Yes, master."

 _Jay P.O.V., current time: 7:49 P.M._

"Why did you do that?!"

"I don't know! I just got mad and wanted to defend you!"

"From what?! Getting attacked with words from an amnesiac Nindroid?!" I argued.

"Yes! I mean, no! Ah, forget it, let's just go find him." Cole surrendered.

"Yeah, and you better apologize for that," I muttered.

Poor guy got chased away minutes after he woke up. Probably ran away thinking he was a monster. Cole shouldn't have been so harsh on Zane, and now he was probably filling in the gaps on his own with just the things he was told.

We ran outside, through the halls, pretty much in circles, until we saw a shadowy figure run out a door. Naturally, we followed. The figure eventually realized that they were being followed, and stopped.

"Who are you?" Cole asked.

The mystery man turned around, and was none other than Zane. Honestly, I wasn't that surprised. I could kinda just tell it was him— but something was off about him this time. Then it clicked: His posture was different. Zane's posture was always proud, straight backed stance, ready to look you in the eye, but this time, his shoulders were slumped, he was slouching, and he avoided eye contact.

"Why are you here?" He asked. "You said that I belonged with the other Nindroids, did you not? You called me a monster, a traitor. Why would you come back to find me?"

I looked over to Cole, and saw three things flash in his eyes. Hurt, regret, and shame.

"Look, I didn't mean those things. I was angry, and hurt. C'mon Zane, you know I would never say those things to you!" Cole pleaded, eyes begging for mercy.

"Now, I do not know anymore," Zane stated, cold as ice. He ran off without a word, towards a big door, which I assumed led to either outside, or to a very big room on the other side. We followed him through, and as it turns out, I was right the second time. We had walked into a huge palace room. I saw Zane crouched over a prone body, which I thought was dead at first. As I walked over, I realized it was Kai. Both his legs were shattered, just completely demolished. _Thank god he's out, he'd be screaming his head off._

"Oh god, what happened to him?" I asked, completely shocked.

"My medical analysis has revealed both left and right legs have been crushed, likely from blunt force trauma. It appears to be they were shattered under the pressure of his own body weight. There also seems to cerebral hemorrhaging."

"I-is there anything else you spotted?" Cole asked, worry heavily laden in his voice.

"Sadly, yes," Zane nodded gravely. "He is also suffering from stage three hypothermia. Along with that, he has extreme scarring across his back. Most likely inflicted from a barbed whip."

"So, about those shattered legs, will Kai actually be able to walk on his own again?" I questioned.

The solemn look on Zane's face told all. Kai would never walk again.

"Depending on the severity of the worst injuries, we may even need to amputate his legs. If we don't, we risk factors I wish not to take."

"So we better hurry back to the Bounty then, right?" Cole replied.

"Yes. And Cole, please explain to the others of my… _irrational_ behavior."

And with that, Zane left, carrying Kai in his arms, bridal style. We ran after him, back home, back where it all started.

 ** _Soooooo_** **, this is out later than I had hoped…I'm pretty sure it might not be as good, but hey, it still made a thousand and change words, so I'm pretty happy. I assure you, I _will_ get into more detail on how mister Justin Cryptor came to be. If you didn't understand anything in this chapter, I'll give you a simple explanation.** **Hopefully this will help those that have learnt English as their second language. I did _not_ write these to make anybody feel dumb, just to help anyone who didn't understand anything, like PMC, not everyone knows what that means**

 **•Blunt force trauma: Basically when someone ge** **ts hit with something blunt, like a club, a baseball bat, wooden planks, or anything that isn't bladed. I'm pretty sure it can also be defined as being crushed on impact, but I'm not sure. Correct me if I'm wrong.**

 **•Cerebal** **hemorrhaging: Bleeding in or around the brain. You can learn more if you look it up on the Cleveland Clinic, I'll leave a link below.**

 **•PMC: Short for private military company, just a fancy word for the companies mercenaries work in. Mercenaries are often called contractors, and in the real world are often hired by agencies like the CIA, or by other countries, to serve as a small military if they cannot support or don't have their own armies.**

 **As I promised, here's the link to the Cleveland Clinic's page on hemmorhaging.** **health/diseases/14480-intracranial-hemorrhage-cerebral-hemorrhage-and-hemorrhagic-stroke**


	11. Chapter 11

**So you guys know how I had a teeny tiny flashback for Cryptor? You see, I need your opinions, and I mean _all_ of you. Even you, the person who just reads silently and never reviews (I know that's some of you) and those who _do_ review, I need to know if I should just put the flashbacks in here, or if I should make a new story going into the "history" behind Cryptor. I think I should make a new story, since it wouldn't really interfere with this story, but I serve you guys, so you decide. Oh! Before I forget, there's a little deleted part of this chapter I put in the bottom of the chapter. I'll explain later why it was removed.**

Chapter 11: Aftermath

 _Kai P.O.V., 2 days, 12 hours, 8 minutes following "Reformation": 7:57 A.M._

 _Why can't I feel my legs? Hmm, maybe I've just been sleeping for too long._ I opened my eyes, but of course, the sun _had_ to blind me. I heard a gasp, and I noticed I was on a bed in the _Bounty's_ infirmary. Looking around, I saw my arms stuck full of needles and not surprisingly, an I.V. drip. I also noticed almost all my brothers, save Lloyd, surrounding me, but keeping their distance, sticking to the walls, as if I was infected with something contagious, and if they got near, they would contract it. Only Zane was even remotely close to me, if monitoring my vitals from a few feet away counted as being close.

"Ah, you are awake! How are you feeling?" Zane asked.

"Like I was hit by a truck. How long have I been out?" Nobody said a thing.

Zane hesitated, then began to speak. "You have been unconscious for two and a half days. I believe I should explain this, after all, this entire endeavor is my fault."

"Hey now, this isn't _your_ fault. We all had a part in this," Jay chimed in. _Why is his right hand missing?_

"Yeah, if anything, we should all take turns telling this helluva story." Cole joined into the conversation.

"Ok then, enlighten me," I said sarcastically.

Minutes later, the guys finished telling me what had happened in the last few weeks or so. Then I realized. "Where's Nya?"

The room went silent. Nobody spoke.

"Where's Nya?!" I repeated myself, then twice, then three times.

"I, I guess we might've forgotten about her in the midst of things," Cole muttered.

"How? How could you?! How could you forget my _sister?!"_ I screamed.

"Please Kai, I need you to relax. Your heart rate is spiking. If you continue this, there could be major consequences!" Zane pleaded.

"You want me to _calm down?!_ My sister is missing, probably left in the hands of the Overlord and his soldiers, and you want me to _CALM DOWN?!_ After all _you've_ done, you are in _no_ pla–" I could feel my heart beating, faster than normal, and my breath quickening. Cole started to say something, but everything was muffled, like I was underwater, and just like that, the wooden floor rushed up to meet me.

 _Jay P.O.V., 2 days, 12 hours, 16 minutes following "Reformation": 8:05 A.M._

 _Oh god, what did I just do? They're staring._ I looked up, and sure enough, both Zane and Cole were staring at me, shocked.

"I suppose that relieves the stress problem," Zane mumbled.

"Jay! Why did you do that?!" Cole kinda half yelled, half asked that, but I could understand why. I looked back down, syringe in my trembling hand.

"I-I didn't inject him with the wrong thing, did I?" I started to freak out.

Zane slowly approached me. "Jay, I need to calm down. Please, slowly hand over the syringe, I will do my best to determine what you have just put in Kai's bloodstream."

"O-okay. Okay." My hands were shaking real bad now. _What did I do? Why did you do that? Where did you get that stupid,_ stupid _idea?!_

Cole turned me towards the door by the shoulders. "C'mon Jay, let's go. You just relax on the couch, and I'll get you some hot chocolate. That sounds good, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds good."

 _Cole P.O.V., 2 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes following "Reformation": 9:05 A.M._

"Cole! I would like to see you, _alone_."

"Alright, I'm on my way!"

I walked into the infirmary, where Zane was holding up two vials, one with a clear substance, and one with a milky white liquid. "Do you know the difference between these two vials?" He asked, focusing on the two containers.

"Uhh, no?"

"This liquid," he turned towards me, raised the clear tube, "can anyone to sleep, no matter how strong or large, in less than _five_ minutes. This milky substance, however, can kill in less than _two_ hours."

"Okay . . . I'm lost. What's the connection, if there even _is_ one?"

"You see, Cole, I have noticed some interesting things upon returning to my, for lack of a better word, _normal_ state. Most recently, Jay injected Kai with the lethal liquid instead of the anesthetic, on purpose, I believe," he paused.

"You cured him already, right?"

"Of course, I have the antidote in the refrigerator right there." Zane nodded towards the fridge to his left.

"Okay, good, so, why are you do you think that Jay pricked Kai with the wrong thing on purpose?"

"Because that is not the Jay we know." Zane stated flatly.

"Umm, _what?"_

"I have reason to believe that they Jay we brought home is an android, programmed to believe that _he_ is Jason Walker. Would you like me to prove it to you?"

"Yeah, I guess. Sure."

"Cole, answer honestly; what color is Jay's eyes?" Zane asked.

"Sapphire blue. C'mon Zane, you said you were gonna prove that Jay's not Jay! What does his eye color have anything to do with this?"

"Did you take the time analyze his eye color recently?" I shook my head.

"Unless he can miraculously change eye color, its current color is hazel brown." His face grew solemn. "We are dealing with an imposter right now, Cole."

My breathing started to shake a bit. "So…what do we do then?"

"I am not sure, but for now, I believe we should continue to act as if we know nothing of this."

"Yeah, okay. See ya later." I walked out the door, hoping not to see robo-Jay.

 _Zane P.O.V., 2 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes following "Reformation": 9:06 A.M._

 _Problems._ That was the only thing that crossed my mind as Cole walked out the door. _Every single time. You can never bring good news to your brothers, can you? You must always either find or cause problems._ I sighed. "I suppose I should be working on why we have an imposter who does not even know what they could be, and why they are here."

"Zane?" Kai croaked, startling me.

"Yes, Kai?"

"Do you have. . . water? My mouth feels like a desert. I think there might even be some cactus starting to grow."

I chuckled. "Of course, Kai, I have water."

I turned my back to Kai, and walked towards the refrigerator, where three bottles of cold water were waiting. I grabbed the one farthest from the door, as it was generally the coldest, before walking back to Kai. "Here is your water, but please, do not drink too quickly, your stomach may not be able to hold so much that soon." By the time I finished my sentence, he was already halfway finished with his bottle.

Kai drew in a deep breath. " _Sure._ Gotcha, Zane."

"Oh, Kai. You're awake."

"Hey, Cole."

"Hey, Zane, can I talk to Kai for a bit, you know, _alone?"_ Cole asked, although I knew it was more a command, not a question.

"Of course. If anything happens, call me in immediately."

"Will do, Zane. See you later." Kai assured as I walked

* * *

 **So earlier I said I removed a tiny part, but I would show it to y'all anyways, and that it would be explained why. The reason why… was that it completely contradicted previous statements and actions/consequences. It was gonna be a little chase scene, but it was scrapped halfway through writing it, so it gets cut off at a point, _and_ there might be a tiny spolier little things that were left behind after Zane was freed from the Nindroids' control, _i_ _f_ you can spot it…**

 **P.S. This was supposed to go right after Zane grabbed a water bottle for Kai.**

I turned my back to Kai, and walked towards the refrigerator, where three bottles of cold water were waiting. I grabbed the one farthest from the door, as it was generally the coldest, before walking back to–

"Kai! Stop running!" Cole yelled from a distance.

I dropped the water bottle and dashed out the infirmary, when Kai rammed straight into me, pushing both of us onto the wooden floor, stunning my processors and the pistons allowing me movement. Unfortunately, Kai recovered faster than I, granting him escape from Cole, who leaped over me. My processors finally returned to working condition, giving my pistons the chance to get moving again.

I chased after Cole, and within seconds, caught up to him. Scanning him over, it was quite obvious his stamina was drained, as he was a fighter, not a runner. He looked at me. "Zane, you're a runner, go get 'em, I'll catch up in a sec."

I nodded. "Affirmative."

To be honest, it was not hard to cach Kai. Due to his injuries, he could not run very fast. I quickly caught up to him, gently grabbing him from behind, restraining him. He stopped for a moment, before beginning to thrash about.

"Let. Go. Of. Me!" He screamed.

"No." I said quietly. "Kai, stop. I know you want your sister back, but you cannot now, you are not strong enough."

"It doesn't matter! I just want my sister back!" He yelled, hitting me in the side with his elbow. I grunted, both surprised at the fact he hit me, and that it actually hurt.

"Dammit Kai, Quit it!" I yelled.

He stopped. "I - I must apologize. I did not mean to yell so harshly." I whispered, looking at the ground.

"Oh, no. Aww, no. I'm sorry Zane, i really am. . .


	12. I LIVE! (AKA Chapter 12)

**added content to section 2, paragraph 6 of Ch. 7 to explain Lloyd's sudden disappearance.**

 **Oh my goodness, I am so so sorry for not posting a new chapter, in what, a month? I had a ton of trouble trying to figure out how to write this, I had finals/testing, etc. But, here it is, chapter 12! Oh, and for those who are sensitive to anything extreme, there isn't much in this chapter, mostly just talking. Yes, it is sadly, a dialogue chapter. . .**

 **P.S. I broke my one word chapter title streak.**

Chapter 12: Human Nature

 _Cole P.O.V, 2 days, 16 hours, 26 minutes following "Aftermath": 11:10 A.M._

"Excuse me, _what?"_

"Look, I know the plan sounds horrible, but trust me, it work out fine… probably."

"No. I cannot allow this to happen. It is, simply put, far too dangerous," Zane deadpanned.

"C'mon Zane, please. I need to get Nya back. Who knows what they're doing to her?" Kai pleaded, staring at him with puppy eyes, which would've been funny if the situation wasn't so serious.

Zane just stared back at him, probably running through all the scenarios in his head.

"Very well." Zane finally relented, allowing Kai a sigh of relief. "However, you must stay on the Bounty."

His gaze dropped. "Fair enough."

Zane looked quite relieved. "Good, good. I suppose you need as many of us as possible for this?"

"Yeah, but what'll we do with Robo-Jay?"

"Uhh, what?" Kai asked, confused.

"Hmm? Oh, how do I put this? The Jay we brought home is not the Jay we know. He is an android duplicate, programmed to believe that he is the blue ninja."

"Okay. . . so are you guys gonna get rid of him?" Kai questioned.

"Yes, but we are just not sure how or when to. . . _dispose_ of him." Zane replied.

"Okay, okay. So. . . when will you guys go save Nya?" Kai probed, suspicion creeping into his voice.

I looked at Zane, and he looked at me; we weren't sure yet.

"Tonight, I suppose," Zane said, all too suddenly. "I do not believe they would expect an attack so soon after our escape."

Kai's face lit up. "Alright, that sounds great!"

Zane nodded, and walked out without a word. I followed him out the infirmary.

What were you _thinking?!"_ Zane asked, bewildered.

I shrugged. "I guess I was just trying to make Kai feel better, then he came up with the idea, and then I just went along with it to keep him distracted from what's been going on 'round him."

Zane sighed, running his hand through his hair. "We must act quickly, to save both Nya and Jay."

"Yeah, okay. We are going to get them back tonight, right?" I replied.

"Yes. We will move tonight. But for now, I must spend some time on my own."

"Okay. See ya." I left for the kitchen to find some cake, just to relieve my head of some worrying thoughts. _Spend some time on his own? Something has to be wrong._ I shook my head and just kept walking in search of the triple chocolate cake with vanilla frosting Zane had made right after we got back from the Overlord's compound.

"Hey, Cole! Whatcha doin'? Oh! Can you cut some cake for me too?" Ja– _Robo-Jay_ , asked.

"Uh, yeah! Yeah, sure!" I responded in an overly cheery voice.

"Okay! See you later, Cole!" Robo-Jay walked away, leaving me with my thoughts once again.

 _Nya P.O.V., 2 days, 17 hours, 3 minutes following "Aftermath": 11:03 A.M._

"Move it. _Now_." A gruff voice snarled, shoving me forwards. Today was the day. Today, I would finally see Jay again for the first time in what felt like ages. I had overheard the guards talking about how everyone except me had fled, which was odd, because I knew, for a fact that Jay was still here, in the Overlord's secret hideaway camp.

The funny thing was, while I was here, I noticed that not only were there Nindroid soldiers, but there were also mercenaries with a patch on their vests that showed off a large A over the right breast pocket, so I had assumed that they were a part of Atlas Defense, the largest and most powerful mercenary company in all of Ninjago. I had remembered from a news report that the founder had went missing three years ago, and that his name was Justin, and his last name started with what I think was a C, but I couldn't place my finger on what his full last name was.

A voice snapped me back to reality. "Move. Unless you don't want to see your friend."

After what felt like a million miles, the merc stopped me, moving me to the side. He walked up to the door and swiped a keycard, granting us access to what I assumed was where they were holding Jay. "You have ten minutes, then we're pulling you back out. I suggest you use your time wisely."

I rushed in, to see Jay chained up to the back wall, but he was unconscious, or just sleeping.

Grabbing his shoulders, I started to try waking him up. "Jay. _Jay_. Jay!"

He slowly, ever so slowly, opened his eyes. "Huh? Zane? No. No. Stay away from me! I don't want to see her anymore! I _know_ she's not here!" His eyes clouded over with fear, and he started shaking, struggling to escape my grasp.

 _What did they do to him?_ "Jay! Stop! It's me! I'm here!" I shook him a few times, maybe a little bit harder than I had meant to. His eyes finally cleared, and his face was one of pure disbelief.

"Nya? Is that. . . really you?" He asked quietly.

"Yes. Yes, Jay, it's really me! Oh god, what did they do to you?!" I was too busy trying to wake Jay up to notice that where Jay's hand was supposed to be, there was only a bandaged stump.

"Z-Zane. . . h-he just froze my hand, and then he just smashed it with that hammer." He nodded towards a tray full of hammers, saws, and other tortures devices. _Wait, Zane? He would never– oh, right, he was hacked or something._

"Oh, Jay, what are we going to do? We're trapped here, the others broke out, and there're more than just the Nindroids here now!"

"Wait, the others broke out?" Jay looked at me, fear clouding over his eyes. "And there's more soldiers here?!"

"Yeah. And I'm pretty sure their from Atlas."

"Atlas?! Oh no, oh no, oh, this can't be happening. Please tell me this isn't happening!"

"Jay! You need to calm do–"

"Time's up! Get up and outta here!" The guard from earlier stormed in, a scowl on his face. He grabbed my arm, yanking me back towards the door.

Jay started to struggle against the chains again. "No! Nya! Let go of her!"

The guard chuckled. "Or what? You'll yell even louder? Ha! Nice try, shorty, but you're not getting out anytime soon. Any last words to your _girlfriend_?"

"I-I'll find a way to get us out, Nya. I promise."

"O-ok. Goodbye, Jay."

". . . Goodbye, Nya."

 _Zane P.O.V., 2 days, 17 hours, 13 minutes following "Aftermath": 11:13 A.M._

 _What have I done? The others surely must think I am a monster now. I must find out what I have done._

Before I could search my memory banks for what I had done, someone knocked at my door, most likely Cole. I strode across the room, unlocking and opening the door. I regarded him with a fake smile. "Hello, Cole. Is there something you need help with? Or do you simply wish to talk?"

He hesitated, and I knew immediately what he was thinking to do. "Yeah, about that. Look Z, I know you've been through a lot these few weeks, but you know that you can always talk to us, right?"

"Of course," I replied, "but I do not believe that I require any physical or emotional therapy for the time being."

Cole looked very skeptical. "No, Zane, you're not _alright_. You need help. And I know what you wanna say, 'you should perhaps ask Kai if he requires assistance', but he's not the one hurting from being hacked, and being forced to do things you don't _want_ to do. It's alright to be selfish sometimes, it's human nature, and you _are_ human, and even if everyone else in the world says differently, I would still believe that you are human, because you are my brother, and you're the _best_ brother that anyone could ask for."

"I am afraid you are mistaken, Cole," I snapped. "I am not _human_ , and despite your best efforts, I will never be human! I cannot be selfish, for if I do, then it would defy the reasoning for my existence. My primary goal is to protect those who cannot protect themselves, not to be selfish, or to be as human as possible for a droid."

Cole wore a shocked expression on face as he stared at me, possibly angry, suprised, or a mix of both as I snapped at him. But I realized. I didn't care. If he was being annoying, then he _deserves_ to be snapped at.

 _Is this who I am now, a husk of who I once was? An aggressive droid, hell-bent on revenge? Huh, maybe I_ am _no better than Cryptor. . ._


	13. Very sorry for the late update!

**There is a semi-gory surgery-while-awake type thing going on in the first P.O.V, but it's super short, like 46 words short, but I'll mark where it starts, and where it ends. Don't worry, it's real obvious.**

Chapter 13: Motive

 _Jay P.O.V., 2 days, 17 hours, 10 minutes following "Human Nature": 12:10 P.M._

"Is the blue ninja ready for his prosthetic?"

"Yes, General, we are now only awaiting your order to attach it."

 _So they really made a prosthetic? Huh, I wonder what they did to it._ "Hey, guys? Could I get a little info on the new hand you guys made me?"

"No!" Cryptor yelled.

A merc spoke up. " _So,_ should we begin with the process?"

Cryptor sighed. "Yes, yes. Please, begin the grafting process."

The contractor nodded. "Yes, sir!"

A medic approached, holding sleek, glove-like hand. I chuckled nervously. "Hey now, buddy. Why don't we just walk away? You can leave me alone, and I can just walk away and I can grab Nya and go find my brothers."

The corpsman grinned. "How about, _no?"_

 **WARNING WARNING WARNING!**

He injected me with what I hoped was an anesthetic, and began to slice open the center of the stump. The weird thing was, I couldn't feel it! _I guess it was an anesthetic, maybe propofol, or whatever Zane used to knock us out. . ._

 **IT'S OVER NOW, YOU CAN START READING AGAIN.**

 _Cole P.O.V., 2 days, 17 hours, 20 minutes following, "Human Nature": 12:20 P.M._

 _Sleep_. Sleep what was everyone needed. Well, at least it was what Zane and I really needed. Kai's been sleeping twenty-four seven, and Robo-Jay doesn't feel like sleeping. _Probably because he doesn't need it._ But more than anyone else, Zane needed rest the most. His voice box had begun glitching about half and hour ago, probably from the exhaustion of constantly checking Kai's vitals, making sure he was still alive. Since the living room was closer to the infirmary than the bedroom, he decided to crash on the couch. Unfortunately, since Zane was so tall, 5 feet 11 inches tall, to be exact, he ended up taking up the whole couch, leaving me to sleep on the oldest piece of furniture in the entire _Destiny's Bounty_ , the recliner. Not surprisingly, I found myself unable to fall asleep. I had considered eating some cake, but knowing that Zane was a very light sleeper, I restrained myself. I was just getting settled in when the soft beeping from the infirmary became faster, making a _beep beep beep_ , instead of its usual, _beep. . . beep. . ._

 _Beep._

Something's wrong.

"Zane! Kai's beeping thing is going faster!" I whisper-shouted into his ear.

Zane's voice box started glitching, as it always did if he was awoken unnaturally. "WhAt? Is soMethiNg wrOng?"

"C'mon! Kai's heart rate thing is going nuts!" I replied.

Zane shot up at the mention of his heart rate monitor thing, and we both raced down the hallway(A/N, just imagine that the infirmary is at the end of the hallway), only to see Robo-Jay strangling Kai, then throwing him out the room. As a result, Kai flew down the hallway, landing with a bone sickening _crunch_. Zane quickly knelt down to check Kai's vitals and such, while I continued to charge down the hall. Finally, I grabbed Robo-Jay by the neck, lifting him up and pushing him against the wall.

"What's your motive now, huh? Were you built to kill Kai? Is that why you tried to poison him? Is that why you just tried to strangle him?! Yeah, well I've a good friend I want you to meet. Fist, meet traitorous scum."

Twelve well placed punches later, we had a dead Nindroid imposter, a worried Nindroid, a severely injured brother, and three very tired ninja.

"So is Kai okay?"

"Well, apart from a fractured wrist and a sprained ankle, Kai is in about the same state as this morning."

"Oh. Well, I guess we should put Kai back, and get some rest."

"Yes, we should," Zane sighed, clearly exhausted.

On that note, we stumbled back over to the living room, and crashed.

 _No P.O.V., 3 days, 6 hours, 30 minutes following, "Human Nature": 6:30 A.M._

 _The remaining crew of the Destiny's Bounty were battered to say the least. Still recovering from all that has unfolded in the last week, and what they have lost, many of the remaining ninja have resorted to sleep as a means to leave reality behind. However, one ninja is wide awake, oblivious as to what has happened in the last four days. Said ninja is Lloyd, who is flying home, away from the paparazzi and glamour of being the golden ninja, but rather, to his home, where his family is. But there is no family that awaits him. Only tragedy, despair, and grief._

Upon landing, Lloyd jumped off his dragon, and proceeded to walk into the living room. On instinct, he hung up his coat and hat, calling out to his brothers. "Hey, guys. I'm home!" Lloyd chuckled when he received no response, assuming it was all a part of an elaborate prank. Entering the living room, he walked around the couch, to see two bodies, seemingly lifeless. One was on the couch, face down, a blanket draped over their entire body, except for their feet, who had seemed to have fallen onto the couch, while the other had their face buried in the carpet.

His next discovery horrified him. Flipping over the body on the ground, he realized that it was Cole. Desperate to keep Cole alive, Lloyd began performing CPR, attempting to resuscitate his brother. At last, Cole's eyes shot open, gasping for breath. Cole regarded Lloyd with a tired but curious look. "Why are you on top of me? And are you trying to perform CPR on me?"

"Uh, well I walked in, and I thought you guys were dead. Speaking of which, who are you hiding under all those blankets?"

Cole quietly chuckled. "Heh, go check for yourself."

Lloyd walked over to the couch, pulling the blankets back to reveal a certain ninja of ice, which seemed to both amuse, and surprise Lloyd.

"Alright, I'll bite. What are you guys doing here, and why is Zane not responding to me?" Lloyd spoke as he snapped his fingers next to Zane's ears.

In an instant, Cole's face became solemn and tired. "So after we sent you away, Zane drugged and took us to the Overlord's base camp. He forced us into some horrible torture stuff, but we survived somehow, which could be an honest mistake, or someone was helping us out. Speaking of which, you might wanna go see Kai; he's in pretty bad shape. Anyways, after I freed myself, I broke out Jay and rebooted Zane, so he's good again. Oh, and the Jay we brought home is actually a fake that tried to kill us! The real Jay is still on the Overlord's base, stuck on his own, except for Nya, probably being tortured, and _stuff_. Zane probably just shut himself down to get his energy back quicker, so you might wanna just leave him alone."

Lloyd's face matched that of his brother. Anger, pain, and sadness washed over him, and he vented in the only way he knew how; he started yelling.

While Lloyd was having his temper tantrum, Cole snuck over to Zane's still body, opened his control panel, and began his start-up phase, essentially "waking" him up.

Three minutes later, Zane was up once more, and Lloyd had calmed down, somewhat.

Half an hour later, the remaining ninja were prepared to fight their way into the Overlord's compound.


	14. Chapter 14

**To those who are somehow still reading this. . . Thank you for holding out so long on my unpredictable timetables. Speaking of which, I will be going on hiatus for maybe 1-3 months, due to my chaotic life right now. School is starting in less than two weeks, and my friends and I are getting into airsoft, so I don't have much time left to write. Again, to those who still read this, even those who don't review, _thank you._**

 **Also, all points of view will be in third person.**

* * *

Chapter 14: Jailbreak

 _Cole P.O.V., 3 days, 14 hours, following "Motive"; 10:30 A.M._

"–right, all we have to do is infiltrate the base and grab Jay and Nya and get out, right Zane?"

"Well, it is not that simple, but that is the plan at its simplest form, yes."

"Gotch–Cole? Cole? Cole?!"

Cole snapped his eyes open, startled to find Lloyd attempting to shake him awake.

"Huh, what?" He responded, still in a sleep induced delirium.

"We were going over the plan, and you just dozed off!"

"Oh."

 _"Oh?_ Jay and Nya are possibly being tortured by the Nindroids, and your only response is 'oh'? Their lives are in danger, Cole, danger!" Lloyd lashed out, unable to control the surge of emotions.

"Lloyd, please, calm yourself. Pointless arguments will not help us rescue Nya and Jay." Zane attempted to calm the energy elemental, but the effort proved fruitless.

"Pointless? Zane, you were the _reason_ why those two are in danger right now, not to mention the facts that Kai is on an I.V. drip right now!" Zane flinched, obviously hurt by the green ninja's harsh words.

 _Poor guy, he's been through so much, only to be snapped at by his own little brother._

"Seriously? My sister and Jay are stuck in the Overlord's compound, having who know what happen to them, and you guys are here bitching over how they got into the position they're in?" Kai wheeled himself in, leaning against the wall in an unusually casual manner.

The room fell silent.

Zane finally spoke up, a small voice of reason. "Kai is right, the more time we spend arguing, the less time we have to rescue Jay and Nya."

We all murmured our agreement. As we all stood, Zane approached Kai, whispering something into his ear. Kai took a moment to process what he has said, then nodded his head. As the two began to chat, Zane wheeled Kai back into the infirmary, likely to get rest.

Lloyd then approached Cole, a guilty look on his face. "Hey, I just wanna say that I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier, I was just mad and felt horri–"

"Hey, if there's anyone you want to apologize to, it's Zane. You straight up chewed him out. Keep in mind that it wasn't really him though, he _was_ hacked." Cole interrupted Lloyd's speech, not allowing him to finish.

The son of Garmadon pondered Cole's statement, taking his words into thought. Finally, he sighed. "You're right. I really should go say sorry. It's just that things have been so stressful, and I feel like I can't help in anyway at all."

"Hey, now don't say that! We were the ones who sent one away! If you had stayed, the Overlord would've captured you too, and probably drained you of your elemental powers, or something. . ."

"Maybe, but I still feel so, helpless. Half my family is either crippled or captured, and I feel like I've just failed, not only as their leader, but as their brother!"

"It's alright. Just keep in mind that we are going to break Jay and Nya out tonight." Cole smiled, a twinkle in his eye.

Lloyd returned the smile, walking away as he did. "Yeah. See you later, Cole."

"See ya!"

* * *

 _Jay P.O.V., 3 days, 14 hours, 45 minutes following "Motive"; 11:15 A.M._

The door leading into Jay's cell violently swung open, startling the sleeping ninja. A man with an eyepatch swiftly strode in, stretching his hand out to the blue ninja, gesturing for him to take it. With hesitance, he took the hand, allowing the man to lift him to his feet. The man whistled, and two men immediately walked in, carrying a table and chairs with them. As they set it down, the man signaled for Jay to sit. Taking the man's appearance into noticed, he spotted a katana strapped to his back.

"Good morning, Jay Walker. How did you sleep?" The man finally spoke, his voice smooth and charismatic.

The question took Jay by surprise. He hadn't expected to be asked such a question, especially not in such a genuine tone. "Well, not so great if I'm being honest. My back kinda hurts from sleeping on a cement floor without any padding."

The man hummed thoughtfully. "Alright. I'll have a bed here for you by tonight."

Yet another turn of events. _Why was the man being so generous? He has to want something from me!_

"Okay, what do you want from me? DNA? Blood?"

The man looked shocked. "No, you misunderstand. My name is Kenshi. I'm the current CEO of Atlas. We were hired by the Overlord, yes, but we still have hearts, you know. Many of us, including myself, pity you and your girlfriend, so we're just trying to help you out, maybe make things a little easier."

"My–my girlfriend?!" Jay sputtered.

Kenshi tilted his head. "Wait. You guys aren't, you know, dating?"

"N–no! We're just good friends, that's all!"

Kenshi shrugged. "Alright. Whatever you say."

Deciding to change the subject, Jay asked Kenshi a question for a change. "So what's the story behind the eyepatch? Is it just to make you look cooler?"

A sad smile graced Kenshi's face. "No, it is not to make me look cooler. It's a long story, but we have time, so I suppose I could tell you."

"I was a part of an elite team called the Devil Dogs. We did all the jobs the government thought was too dirty for them. Assassination? We handled that. Torture and blackmail? We did that too. We did pretty much all the odd jobs, the ones that required ghosts; nobody could know what had happened until after we struck, and by then, everyone was dead."

"That still doesn't explain the reason why you wear the eyepatch."

"Patience, I'm getting there. One particular mission, a pretty cookie-cutter one at that, we were betrayed. Our mission was to eliminate some terrorists, get rid of their weapons and explosives, the usual, but once we cleared the compound of terrorists, our own brother, Ghost, turned and shot Phantom, our second in command. We thought he was the only one, so we focused fire on him. However, another one of our own, Jax, fired on me. One of the bullets, punctured my left lung. Another bullet broke though, and a piece of shrapnel pierced my eye. The doctors tried to save my eye, but it was my eye or my lung, so naturally they chose my lung. If Cryptor had been any pater to save me, I would've been long gone, and I would've never gotten to see Shuchin and Takeda again. . ." He shook his head. "Nobody survived the attack but me and Justin. We decided to start our own company after, Atlas, so that we could honor our brothers and to at least try to end terrorism, but in the end, we were just men, whose brothers betrayed us."

"Wait. Cryptor? As in the crazy bot that ordered my hand getting chopped off, my brother kidnapping my family? _He's_ the founder of Atlas?!"

Kenshi sighed. "Afraid so. He's not the man I once knew, even though he still possess some aspects of the Justin I remember."

"Oh. I–I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Kenshi chuckled. "Why are you sorry? You never knew what had happened, nor did you cause it. I assure you, you have nothing to apologize for."

"Oh, alright."

Kenshi began to stand, preparing to leave.

"Wait!" Jay called out before he closed the door. "Th–thank you. For everything."

Kenshi smiled. "No problem. It's not everyday you meet a ninja."

* * *

 **Hullo mates! I believe this is out earlier than normal, but eh, whatever. For a full story on what how Kenshi lost his left eye and the story of the end of the Devil Dogs, check out my second story, Origins of Evil: Cryptor. It currently has two chapters, and updates are (ironically) slightly more frequent than here. I know it's kinda self-advertisement, but hey, a story's a story.**

 **Also, before I forget, please please review. They give me the drive to keep writing these chapters. Even you, silent reader, I encourage you to voice your thoughts about this story.**

 **Have a good day,**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	15. Down, But Not Out

**So, I guess I owe y'all an explanation, and an apology. I had originally intended for the hiatus to only last a few months, not nearly half a year, but during said hiatus, I found myself unable to find time to write, because school(ugh), personal tragedies, etc.**

 **Now, I'm not trying to sound pitiful or anything, but after looking at the stats, and lack of reviews, it makes it difficult to write, especially when I already have what I can only describe as chronic writer's block(huh, is this a new thing I've just created?)**

 **So yeah, I see you, ghost reader. I'd really appreciate some feedback, considering these last few chapters have been pretty shit.**

 **So, for you few people that still follows this little story of mine, thanks.**

 **Sorry, this has stretched on for far too long, and you're probably just here for the chapter, so here.**

Chapter 15: Escape

 _Jay P.O.V., 5 hours following "Escape"; 5:15 PM_

 _It's not everyday you get to meet the ninja._

Kenshi's final words continued to ring in my head. Could he really be trusted? _Sure he gave me better stuff, but it could just be a trick to gain my trust._

Suddenly, a siren started going off in the cell, and the lights began flashing red. _A lockdown? Most likely, but who would have the balls to try to break_ in _here?_

Kenshi burst in, sword at the ready. He glanced around the room quickly, his eye finally resting on me. He grabbed my arm, yanking me out of the cell. He looked down both ends of the hall, searching for other mercs, before turning to me.

"Look, your ninja buddies have finally come lookin' for you. i'm gonna turn you loose, so you run your ass out of here as fast as you can, ya hear?"

"W-wait! What about you? The Overlord's gonna have your head if he finds out I escaped, especially if he finds out you helped me! He'll kill you, or worse, torture you then kill you!" I could feel my heart rate rising quick. I was not going to just leave Kenshi behind like that! Instead, he smiled softly. "Don't worry kid. I'll hold out, assuming you and your pals make it out, and that I have something else to blame."

"You're sure you don't wanna just come with us?" I asked one more time, hoping he would oblige.

Kenshi shook his head quickly. "Sorry, no can do kid, now go, get your ass out of here!"

I nodded, quickly turning on my heel, and running, running, running, not bothering to look back for anything, until I ran into a wall, or at least what I thought was a wall, until I looked up.

"Cole? Is that really you?"

Cole looked down on me, shock plastered on his face. "J–Jay? B–but how? The intel said that you were stuck in a cell!"

I pushed myself up, brushing the dust off my gi. "Yeah, well long story short, the commander of Atlas let me go free, something about a lotta them feeling bad for us or something."

Cole nodded, hopefully understanding me, until his fingers snapped, panic on his face. "Shit! Zane and Lloyd are near your cell! They said they were gonna bust you out there! We've got to get to them, and fast!"

Immediately sprinting, Cole grabbed his mic, frantically yelling for them to get out, and that he had already found me. Judging by the expression on Cole's face, the other two were not taking very kindly to the new proclamation.

"No, _listen to me_ Zane! Jay is right next to me, seriously! You need to get out of there, and get back to the _Bounty_!" A slight pause, and then, "no, I am _not_ hallucinating, I swear! Yes, I'm sure that I'm not dreaming! My hand is _literally on his shoulder!"_

Finally, Cole set aside the mic, turning to me. "Alright, we're gonna meet up with Zane and Lloyd at the Bounty, then discuss what our next move is."

I nodded, relieved that we were finally headed home. _Man, what I wouldn't give for my Starfarer comics, and a nice, warm, comfy bed._

 _Lloyd P.O.V., 6 hours, 19 minutes following "Escape"; 6:34 P.M._

"Do you think that Cole _really_ found Jay?"

Zane sighed, probably annoyed, which was a fair reaction considering this was the seventh time I had asked him the same question(well, ninth if you counted the times I asked while making our way back to the Bounty).

"Lloyd, as I have already said multiple times, _yes_ , I do believe Cole found Jay."

"But how did he get out? I thought it was practically impossible for anyone to break outta there?"

"As Cole has already said, we have reason to believe that someone in Atlas freed him, and told him to run."

"Alright, but what of it's another clone? Then what?"

"Do not worry, my brother, I have installed a software that should allow me to determine whether or not he is truly our brother. In addition, I am prepared to ask him questions only the real Jay should know."

I sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll stop bugging you."

Zane smile slightly, the first I had seen in a while. "It is quite alright, I do not mind your rambling or questions at all."

Suddenly, the door flew open, revealing Cole, who was carrying a smaller, limp form slung over his shoulder. He trudged over to the infirmary, finally depositing the body, now identified as Jay, onto one of the cots, conveniently right next to Kai.

Both Zane and I rushed over, checking vitals, blood pressure, and running various medical tests.

"Lloyd, would you please pass the thermometer?"

"Sure. Here ya go."

"Cole, as much as I know you worry for Jay, I must asked you to please leave the room. Please, go get some rest, or food. I believe we still have some cake if you so desire some."

"Cole nodded, worried but understanding that he was just in the way. "Right, okay then, uh, I'll see you guys later, I guess. Just, take care of him, would ya?" He asked sheepishly.

I nodded. "He's our brother just as much as yours. Don't worry, Zane and I'll have him patched up in no time."

Cole nodded once more, before backing off, probably in search of that leftover cake. With Cole gone, Kai finally pulled the curtains, seeing for the first time what had happened to the Master of Lightning.

"My god. . . Did, did they _really_ saw his hand off and replace it with a robot hand?" He asked, clearly horrified.

Zane only nodded, his face one of grim determination. "I am afraid so. Despite the most ideal solution being getting rid of the prosthesis as soon as possible, I am afraid we will have to risk keeping it, since we do not have any other readily available."

Kai only stared on in what could only be described as morbid curiosity, eyeing Zane as he cleaned wounds and treated scar tissue. As Zane worked, his mouth set tight in a thin line, he occasionally muttered a quiet curse, often so quiet, that even Kai, who was leaning right next to him, could barely hear it.

 _Recovery would not be easy, but it sure as hell was better than losing one of our brothers._

 **So, I know I say this a lot, but hopefully this year updates will come once every other week, or at the worst once a month.**

 **If anyone has ideas, feel free to let me know in a review, or PM.**

 **For now, have a good day/night**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	16. Chapter 16

**Well, here I am, trying my damndest to actually have a schedule for chapters. Time between will still be extremely inconsistent for a little while, but my plan is to have a new chapter every week or two.**

 **With that, enjoy chapter 16!**

 **Before I forget, for the squeamish, you may want to skip the section after Jay's P.O.V. it has graphic depictions of torture, so not for the light-hearted.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Betrayal

 _No P.O.V., 15 minutes following "Escape"; 6:49 P.M._

"What do you mean they _got away?!"_

Kenshi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sir, with all due respect, our men weren't prepared for a rescue mission so soon. The recon teams had reported that they were still on their flying ship, not on the ground trying to bust out their buddy."

"Pathetic! You were supposed to be the best money could afford!" The Overlord rasped. "But look at you now, bested by some teenagers and their robot!"

"Sir, there was nothing we could do, but we've learned now. Patrol sizes have been increased, and the recon teams have thermal now. This won't happen again, you have my word." Kenshi began to walk away, before the Overlord snapped his fingers, and near instantly, Cryptor was pinning him down.

Kenshi struggled, still at the mercy of the Nindroid general. "Hey! What's this all about?"

The Dark Lord sneered. "Your insolence will not go unnoticed. I know you had something to do with the ninja's escape, but you will tell me, or die."

Cryptor's hold moved from his chest to his neck, choking out the swordsman. "Jus–Justin, stop! I know you're in there, deep down. Fight it, dammit!" Kenshi slammed his fists on Cryptor's arms, but to no avail.

Finally, on the verge of unconsciousness, the Overlord snapped his fingers once more. "Stop. Take him to the Red Room. Either get him to tell how he helped the ninja, or kill him. Understood?"

The General nodded. "Yes sir, I understand."

Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, Cryptor dragged Kenshi down to the Red Room, where only the strongest survived, but only by a thread.

* * *

 _Jay P.O.V., 1 hour, 26 minutes following "Escape"; 7:00 P.M._

"Jay? Hey, bud, you awake?" _Ugh. Just leave me alone to sleep a while longer._

"Kai, please do not disturb Jay, he needs his rest. We have all been through much, we need sleep." _Yeah, just let me sleep a while longer._

A huff, then a defeated sigh. "Fine. I'll tell you when he wakes up, so you can check his heart and stuff."

"Very well. I will occasionally check back in, in case you need anything, alright?"

"Ok, see ya later Zane!" _Zane, that was one of the voices' names. Right, right. The Master of Ice, and the other was Kai, the Master of Fire._

Jay opened his eyes slowly, trying to avoid burning his eyes from the bright lights. He did not succeed. He groaned, his eyes straining before adjusting to the white light of the infirmary. Kai turned to him, grinning like a maniac. "Welcome back buddy! How ya feeling? You need anything?"

Jay sighed. "Thanks, tired, and water."

Kai looked at him, confused. "Wait, wh– ohh. Ok, let's just get Zane or Cole. They can get your water. You hungry? I think I heard Zane say he was making udon and tempura tonight. Sound good?"

Jay nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure, but can I really get some water now? My mouth feels like Ma and Pa's junkyard."

Kai chuckled. "Glad you still have your sense of humor. This might still be a little too early, but please, can you tell me what happened to Nya? I have to know, I've been so worried this past while."

Jay looked down, as if reliving the past. "Well, I don't remember much, and we had such little time together. . . All I remember was her saying that they were treating her fairly well, and that the guard soften snuck her better food than what we were getting. Something about a lot of the mercs feeling bad about kidnapping some kids, even if we had powers."

Kai nodded slowly, still coming to terms with his sister's conditions, before turning back to Jay. "Well, how about you? What happened to you? And what's up with the robot hand?"

Jay glanced down at the prosthesis, admiring the craftsmanship, despite being made by the enemy. "Well, that's a long story. It all began with Zane, while he was still hacked. He froze my hand, then shattered it. So after that, Cryptor decided he wanted to build me a new hand, so a while later, he showed up with this and a medic, and just, just attached it.

After that, they sent me into this room, where all they dud was cuff me to the wall, use some torture devices, especially the cat o' nine tails, and just tried to get some info outta me. I wouldn't budge, never made a peep. The day before you guy came out and saved me, this one guy named Kenshi came in, telling me about himself, and then before he left, he said something about not meeting the ninja everyday. The next day, he let me go free when the lockdown started going off."

Kai whistled. "Damn bro. That's rough."

Jay leaned back into his cot, not realizing that he had leaned forwards as he was speaking. "Yeah, that was a rough few days. Glad I'm outta there and back home though. Hopefully I'll be back up and running soon."

Kai sighed wistfully. "Yeah, too bad I won't be able to."

Jay looked at Kai curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Well, during the first breakout, the Overlord crushed my legs, so now I'm pretty much paralyzed from the waist down."

Jay's eyes fell from Kai's. "Oh," was all he could muster.

Before either could speak, Zane walked in. "Hello Jay, Kai, I came in to tell you that dinner is ready. Would you like to join us?"

Both accepted. Cole soon came in as well, helping Jay walk out of the infirmary and into the dining room, while Zane unfolded the wheelchair for Kai. As they approached the dining room, they passed by Lloyd, who was setting the table. He smiled, waving hi, then resuming to his task.

For the first time in months, Jay realized, they finally had the chance to have a peaceful dinner.

* * *

 _No P.O.V., 1_ _hour, 41 minutes following "Escape"; 7:15 P.M._

To the untrained eye, the Red Room was merely a room with simple concrete floors, and deep red colored walls, decorated with chains operated by pulleys. However, to both men knew it was much more than that.

As Cryptor dragged Kenshi into the room, the guards outside rushed in, attaching the chains to his arms and legs, hoisting him up into the air, vulnerable to injuries. Just to be safe, the two nindroids sliced into both the swordsman's shoulders, traveling from the shoulder blade to the bicep, rendering him incapable of resistance. As the two got to work ensuring the least resistance possible, another brought in a tray full of knives, pliers, syringes, and multiple other torture devices.

As the three nindroids left, on pulled the eyepatch off of Kenshi's blind eye, revealing a milky eye, remnants of blue still left in it, and a long scar, running from his eyelid to his cheekbone.

Finally glancing up to his former superior, Kenshi sighed. "It's really gonna go down like this, huh? After all we've been through, with the Devil Dogs, with Atlas, and you're just gonna torture me because we kidnapped some kids? I know you're in there Justin, you just need to, fight it. You and I both know that those kids did no wrong!"

Instead of a verbal answer, Cryptor's reply was a swift stab into Kenshi's left pectoral, just above the heart, leaving the blade lodged in his flesh. The swordsman stifled his scream, refusing to show weakness to his torturer, just as his instructor had taught him decades ago in special forces training.

Seemingly disappointed with the lack of reaction, Cryptor once again gripped the hilt of the blade, dragging it across his captor's chest, before forcefully yanking the serrated blade out. This time, the nindroid got the expected reaction. Despite the room being somewhat sound-proofed, Kenshi's screams could be heard all the way to the throne room, two floors directly above the Red Room. Blood streamed from Kenshi's chest in slow, steady flows, the serrated edge inflicting even more damage than a normal blade would.

After waiting a few minutes, Cryptor lifted Kenshi's chin, forcing him to look at his former squad leader. "Do you give up?" He asked, his robotic monotone voice all the more menacing.

Instead, Kenshi spat at him, small drops of blood also get on his chest plate at the same time, uttering only two words.

"Fuck. You."

Yet another stab, this time with a smaller knife, in the shoulder, parallel to the wounds inflicted earlier to immobilize him. Curving the blade upwards and pushing down further into the flesh, Cryptor deepened the older wound, eliciting another blood-curdling scream from Kenshi.

A sudden pause. A tense silence for a moment, only broken by Kenshi's labored breathing. Cryptor turned around, pressing a finger to his earpiece. "Report to the Overlord? Does he require me immediately? Yes, I understand. I'm on my way now."

With the snap of a a finger, the chains released, dropping Kenshi onto the bloodied concrete floor with a dull thud, followed by a groan. Cryptor swiftly walked away, while a tray of food slid in the room, just out of the swordsman's immediate reach, forcing him to crawl towards it.

Was this all even worth saving a kid?

"Hell. Yeah," he muttered before finally slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Not gonna lie, I had fun writing this chapter. It gave me the freedom to go in depth as to how far they would go just to punish traitors.**

 **As always, thanks for reading, and reviews would be much appreciated.**

 **Good day, mates!**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	17. Chapter 17

**So I've finally got some inspiration, so I might update a bit more this weekend. Consider these chapters my sorry gift for dropping off the radar for so long.**

 **Another torture warning in the first No P.O.V. segment. If you'd rather avoid that, just skip to the second line break after this one.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Family Ties

 _Cole P.O.V., 16 minutes following "Escape"; 7:31 P.M._

"So uh, about this Kenshi guy. . ."

All eyes turned to Jay, but Lloyd was the first to speak up. "Yeah, what about him?"

 _Something's up,_ Cole thought. _His fingers are twitching, and he's leaned forwards._

"Well, I was looking at the picture that I always keep with me, you know, the one with my parents and their friends? Well, I was looking at it, and I noticed this guy, that had blue eyes, and brown hair."

Kai scoffed. "So? It could be anyone. There are hundreds, probably thousands of people with brown hair and blue eyes."

Jay glared at the Master of Fire. "Well, I thought that he looked familiar, so I called my parents earlier, asked who he was, and they said his name was Takahashi. Takahashi _Kenshi._ Said he was close friends with Pa."

Cole sighed. "Let me guess, you want us to save him too."

Jay nodded vigorously. "Yeah! I mean, even if he wasn't pretty much family, don't you think we like, _owe_ him? I probably wouldn't have gotten out if he hadn't let me go."

Zane finally raised his eyes from his tablet. "Jay, we barely got you out of the fortress, _and_ we still have to rescue Nya. As much as I would like to help, we simply cannot spread ourselves that thin, especially when you are still healing, and another is, _critically injured._ " He spared Kai a sympathetic glance.

The lightning elemental sighed. "I guess you're right. But please? I remember he said something about how if he was caught he would be punished for it. What if he dies and we know we didn't do anything to help him?" Jay pleaded, using his best puppy eyes in an attempt to guilt trip the nindroid.

After a tense staring contest, Zane finally relented. "Very well. _However,_ we must save Nya first. Kenshi is a secondary objective. Understood?"

Jay nodded. "Loud and clear, but when will we try to break in again? They've probably buffed up their defenses."

Zane stood up, turning off the tablet. "Why don't we discuss this tomorrow? It has been an eventful few days."

A chorus of agreements as five ninja either shuffled or wheeled out of the living room.

* * *

 _No P.O.V., 2 days,_ _30 minutes following "Escape"; 7:45 P.M._

White light flooded into the red room, temporarily blinding the severely injured captain. The chains quickly raised itself once again, lifting Kenshi into the air. "Punctual as always, eh?" He chuckled.

The nindroid tilted its head towards Kenshi. "Why do you laugh, Takahashi Kenshi? You are here, at my mercy, yet you _laugh_ in the face of death?"

This caused the man to laugh even harder. "Wow, they really wiped your mind clean, huh? We were _trained_ to laugh in the face of death. We were Devil Dogs, for Christ's sake!"

Cryptor sighed. "You will not give me the information I seek, will you?"

"No."

"Very well. I suppose I will force it out of you then." The general swiftly grabbed a toothpick knife, lodging it between the third and fourth rib, invoking a coarse groan. Days of near continuous torture had taken its toll on the hardened mercenary, nearly breaking his voice to the point that he could barely even scream in pain anymore.

Jerking the blade out, Cryptor slashed from the left shoulder down back to the third rib bone. Much to his disdain, only a pained groan escaped Takahashi's lips.

Before anymore damage could be done, the door was blasted open, revealing the ninja, one carrying an unconscious girl over their shoulder, the other two into battle ready positions. Jay quickly discharged a burst of lightning towards Cryptor, disabling his systems.

Hastily disengaging the chains, Zane slung Kenshi over his shoulders in a fireman carry, while Cole and Jay followed him out of the building.

* * *

 _Jay P.O.V.,_ _2 days, 2 hours, 15 minutes following "Escape"; 10:00 P.M._

"When did you say he was gonna wake up again?"

Zane sighed. "Jay, this is the twenty-seventh time you've asked in the past two hours. Considering what he has endured, he should not wake up for at least another two days, at best."

 _What if I try to zap him awake?_ Jay thought.

Zane crossed his arms. "Jay, you most certainly will _not_ zap him awake."

The Master of Lightning looked up sheepishly. "Did I say that aloud?"

the nindroid nodded, his expression cross.

"Sorry."

Zane sighed, clearly tired. "Jay, please, go get some sleep. We've all been working tirelessly the past two days."

Jay stood up, walking towards the door, before he turned around to face Zane once more. "Wait, what about you? You said that like you're going to bed?"

"I must still tend to Nya. Once i make sure everything in order, I will rest. Now go, sleep."

"Okay, fine. Night Z!"

"Goodnight, Jay."

* * *

 _No P.O.V.,_ _2 days, 2 hours, 21 minutes following "Escape"; 10:06 P.M._

"Sir, I've spotted multiple hostiles, but most of them seem to be sleeping."

 _"Proceed with the mission. The goal is to awake as many as we can, and eliminate the white one."_

"Understood. Proceeding with the essential mission."

As Zane was tending to Nya, a lone soldier, designated SO-A-1, crept aboard the _Destiny's Bounty,_ fully intending on completing the mission, even if it meant sacrificing his life.

Sneaking across to the white ninja, SO-A-1 locked Zane into a choke, kicking the back of his knees, forcing him to the ground, then dragging him outside. Releasing his MF1947, or Modified Fiberglass 1947, from its holster, he fired three rounds into the night sky, awaking most of the _Bounty's_ occupants. Even Nya, who could barely walk on her own, came outside to discover the root of the commotion.

Once most of the crew arrived, the man spoke for the first time. "Ninja, by the Imperial decree of the Overlord, I hereby sentence the white ninja to death!"

Cole was the first to react, stepping forwards, but before he could reach the nindroid and his captor, he was shot in the shoulder, the force enough to knock him down. Nya rushed over to him, while he kept muttering, "it's just a flesh wound."

Now keeping the pistol trained on the ninja, SO-A-1 shuffled towards the edge of the ship, Zane in tow. Finally propping him up, SO-A-1 kicked Zane off the edge, before leaping off himself, leaving the pistol behind in order to lose dead weight.

As soon as the soldier jumped off, all five members rushed to the edge, desperately searching for the Master of Ice, but to no avail. Slowly backing away from the edge, Jay reached down and picked up the pistol, examining it. On the slide, the words _Hell's Judgement_ were inscribed, and _Wolf_ across the grip.

"Guys, look. Apparently this belong to a guy nicknamed 'Wolf'. And this pistol, I've seen it before, but never modded out _this much_ before."

"Do you think you could trace it back to whoever modded it?"

"Maybe, but this looks like it was handmade, so it might be harder, but with all the tech on it, I should be able to trace it back to its origin."

"Good. Let's just check if we, if we lost anything else."

* * *

 ** _So,_ I may I may not have just killed Zane. . .I _would_ say sorry not sorry, but I'm really not sorry, just saying**

 **On the bright side, the guys saved Kenshi, so that's good.**

 **Fun fact that I forgot to put in yesterday: Although many people associate ramen with Japan, it's actually a Chinese food. Same goes for udon noodles. Most folks think it's Chinese, even though it's really Japanese.**

 **Fun fact 2(that's actually somewhat relevant to the story): Kenshi is Japanese for swordsman, if my memory is correct, which is why he is sometimes referenced as "the swordsman". He was also a captain in the Devil Dogs squad, and within Atlas Corp. The reason why he isn't a commander is because in the Army, there is no such thing as a commander. The closest is the captain, hence Kenshi's rank.**

 **Have a good day, and please review! It gives me the motivation to write more often, like today!**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Blood Runs Deep

 _No P.O.V., 1 day, 14 hours, 7 minutes following "Family Ties"; 12:13 P.M_

"When is he going to wake up? It feels like I've been waiting here forever!"

Cole sighed. "Jay, like I've said, we don't know. None of us have enough knowledge about this to know, except for Nya, who is currently in bed, and Zane, who for all we know, is dead."

Jay looked down, as if suddenly remembering once again that they had lost their nindroid brother for the second time.

Cole turned for the door, starting to walk out when both elemental masters heard a soft groan. Both heads swiveled towards Kenshi, waiting for something to happen. Slowly, the captain's eyes fluttered open, revealing one clear, blue eye, and another milky, with only traces of the cerulean blue hue left. Kenshi's eye flitted across the room, taking note of his surroundings, before it finally rested on Jay. "Hey kid," the man said, attempting to sit up, although with great difficulty. "Why'd you come for me?"

Jay sat up straighter, answering with, "Because you're family, and ninja don't leave family behind."

The swordsman smiled softly. "How'd you figure it out?"

Jay fished the small picture out of his gi, showing it to Kenshi. "I thought I saw you right there," he replied, pointing to him in the picture. "So I called my Pa, asked him about it. He told me that it was you, and that you two were thick as thieves."

Kenshi chuckled. "Well he wasn't wrong. That man was the finest engineer we had in our RD team, and the closest thing to a father figure I've ever had. Good man he is, it was an honor to work with him."

As the two began to delve into a full fledged conversation, Cole quietly exited the room, making his way to the kitchen, hoping for a snack, preferably cake. Instead of a cake, however, Cole was greeted with Lloyd, bags under his eyes, a mug of cold tea in his hand. Noticing his presence, the green ninja waved at Cole, before promptly slumping over, his head nearly slamming into the hardwood table, had the earth elemental not caught his head before impact. Sighing, Cole uncurled Lloyd's fingers from the mug, placing it into the sink, before lifting Lloyd up, starting for his room.

Once Cole had put Lloyd down in his bed as gently as he could, he sat in a chair by his bedside, mentally running through a checklist of people he had already made sure was safe, and who he still needed to check up on. Halfway through his rundown, Loyd began to stir, grabbing Cole's attention quickly. Groaning, he looked around, slowly taking in that he was in his own room, and not the kitchen, where he last remembered himself to be.

Cole cleared his throat before speaking. "If you're wondering, you passed out on the table, so I carried you in."

Lloyd nodded slowly, putting the pieces together in his mind's eye. He looked around, before settling on Cole. "Hey, Cole? I have a question."

Cole answered, not bothering to look up from his tablet, a gift given to him by Zane for his birthday the year before. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"How do you deal with everything?"

Cole slowly looked up, a mix of curiosity and concern in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"How do you deal with everything that's been going on? How do you cope with losing your brother twice?"

Cole let out a deep sigh, considering his answers before finally replying.

"I don't."

Lloyd cocked his head to the side, curiosity getting the better of him. "What do you mean, you don't?"

Cole paused a moment, weighing his choices. "I mean that there's no, real way to cope, or deal with losing those you love, not entirely at least. Instead of moping, I put myself to work, and I make sure that by doing so, nobody else I love will get hurt. I know that it hurts to lose Zane twice, and I know that feeling, the one that tells you that you could've done more, that you could've saved him, but I'm telling you now; that voice is wrong. What's happened has happened, and there's nothing we can do about it, only push on."

Lloyd nodded, processing what Cole had told him. Cole was very much like an older brother to all of them, similar to how Zane was like a mother, but it was talks like these that made Lloyd truly grateful to have a family like his; unconditional, but a family that loved one another like their own nonetheless.

* * *

 _No P.O.V., 2 days, 5 hours, 14 minutes following "Family Ties"; 3:20 A.M._

If there was one thing that Marasu Enatsu had learnt in all fifteen years in Atlas, and another five (and counting) working for and dealing with what came with employment under the S.A.T., it was that locked doors don't rattle unless someone was having trouble unlocking the door, or trying to break in, and considering that his girlfriend wasn't due to return for another month and a half, the Japanese man had assumed the latter. As quietly as he could, Enatsu strapped his wrist mounted device on, and reached for his silenced P227 sidearm, before sliding out of bed. Dressed simply in a black long-sleeved shirt and dark sweatpants, the man easily found cover in the dark, sneaking among the shadows, searching for the intruders.

Carefully rounding each corner, he was very suddenly met with a man clad in all black, his face covered with a balaclava. Both looked at each other for a moment, before Marasu quickly lunged for the man's gun, grabbing the barrel, pushing it up, away from himself. Surprised by the sudden action, the assailant fired three silenced shots into the ceiling, capturing the attention of his colleagues, but no one else. Still occupied by the first man, Enatsu had noticed the other two soldiers that had entered the bedroom.

Finally managing to wrench the rifle out of the masked man's hands, he fired off three precise shots; one into each leg, and another into the attacker's dominant hand. Capitalizing on the other two's shock, the former mercenary slid into cover behind the bed, before pressing a button on his wrist mounted device, which emitted a sub-sonic blast from his Yokai, which he had placed around his house for this exact reason. Taking advantage of the soldiers disorientated by the blast, Marasu quickly disarmed the man closest first, knocking him out cold with a well aimed blow to the head.

While tying up the man, however, the last soldier had finally regained their senses enough to lunge toward the distracted defender. The soldier pinned Marasu down, straddling him at the hip, a small hand half-wrapped around his throat. Raising an open hand, Enatsu somehow caught the punch directed to his face. Capitalizing on their shock, the defender rolled to his side, flipping the aggressor onto their back, complete darkness still shrouded over both fighters. Quickly taking control of the situation, Marasu pressed down on a pressure point in the shoulder, causing the attacker to let out a very familiar, feminine cry of pain. Slightly taken aback by the discovery, he quickly struck the woman across the face, then yanked her up, spinning her around into a choke; tight enough to gain and maintain control, but not enough to asphyxiate to the point of unconsciousness. Moving towards the kitchen, he grabbed multiple zip-ties, securing first the legs, then the hands, before forcing her down onto a chair, binding the ties to the back and legs of the chair. Pulling the balaclava off as he went, Enatsu walked towards the light switch, determined to find who had set out to either capture or kill him. Flipping the switch, he noticed that the woman was softly swearing, still struggling against the ties, which he had purposely left loose so that they couldn't hurt themselves trying to escape. Collecting a few specific tools he had learned were especially effective for torture, Marasu nearly stabbed the lady in the leg before even starting. _I swear, whoever this person is, they are going to have one hell of a bad time tonight._

Silently walking around to face his attacker in a silent rage, Marasu Enatsu had every intent to kill this person, woman or not, for how they had trashed his once neat home. He had expected the face to be unfamiliar, likely rough, and sneering.

What he was not expecting however, was a soft face, one that he knew very well, and the only noise heard around the entire apartment was the clatter of a knife.

* * *

 **Before I go over some important stuff, I need to let you guys know,**

 **Hey folks, sorry for dropping off the grid for so long, a string of events occurred, and it left me unable to write for a while. First off, I got sick, really bad cold and flu, left me out for a week. Then, my parents got sick, so I had to take care of them for a while. And after all that was over, I was just too tired to write.**

 **So I stayed up until 4 A.M. writing this, just so that I can at least get one in before the month is over. If all goes well, there will be another chapter up by Sunday, maybe even a double upload if I have enough time (probably not but I like to hope).**

 **Now onto the important story elements to keep an eye out for.**

 **• Enatsu will become a key character in the story later on, and maybe the mystery person (that you guys have probably figured out already. Let me know who you think it is).**

 **o If anyone here play Rainbow Six Siege you can probably tell what Enatsu will be doing in his spare time, just saying.**

 **• Kenshi will also become a prominent figure in the story, especially towards the end.**

 **• I'm still debating Zane's fate. Maybe he's trapped in the wilderness, who knows? Because I sure as hell don't**

 **And that pretty much wraps up today. Again, sorry for going away for so long, but I swear I'll be consistent or at least warn you guys in advance. With that, I hope y'all have a good day!**

 **~ The Titan's Shadow**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: You Shouldn't Be Here

 _Enatsu P.O.V., 1 minute following "Blood Runs Deep"; 3:58 A.M._

"Yumiko?" Marasu asked tentatively, unsure that he was truly seeing his girlfriend in front of him.

Said girl hung her head in shame, unwilling to look her beloved in the eye. Despite his best efforts, Enatsu realized that he would not be getting an explanation unless he was going to ask for one.

"Why?" He whispered, the question barely audible. He looked up to Yumiko, hurt and betrayal shining in his eyes. She finally met his gaze, eyes brimming with hurt, tears threatening to spill out. "We were sent on a mission. They told us that our client wanted someone, typical bag and tag; what they didn't tell us was the target, just the build, height, race, same as always. I thought that it was odd when I saw that it was the same room as ours, but I had assumed you had already moved out, into the bigger flat. I didn't know it was you until you used the Yokai. Marasu I'm so sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have gone through with the mission."

Marasu shook his head, unable to find it in himself to be angry. "It's too late for that now. We should find out more about your client, find out what he wants from us. For now though, I think a bath and sleep is in order."

The S.A.T. operator moved behind the mercenary, cutting her loose, rubbing her wrists gently to ensure that blood would flow normally back into her hands. Carefully lifting her up, Enatsu carried her to the bathroom, trusting her to be able to clean herself while he cleaned up the mess in the bedroom. Bandaging the first man, he lifted him up, bringing him outside, before calling an ambulance for him. Walking back inside, he found the man he had knocked out beginning to stir again, so he dragged him to the kitchen, sitting him in the same chair Yumiko had been not half an hour prior.

Quickly changing into cleaner clothes, Enatsu walked back to the bathroom, quietly opening the door, hoping to surprise the girl in the bathtub.

"I can hear you, you know." She called, a smirk on her face.

Defeated, Marasu walked over, sitting next to her by the tub. "How? I opened the door without a sound!"

Yumiko smiled at her boyfriend, amused by his antics. "I heard your footsteps. They aren't exactly very light, unless we were on a mission."

Enatsu sighed, bested once again. Glancing up, he noticed multiple bruises littered across Yumiko's body, some an angry purple, surrounded by a sickly yellow, others were older, already beginning to fade. Worried, he raised an eyebrow at her, an unspoken question shot towards her. He noticed the slump of her shoulders, followed by her leaning towards him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Who did this to you?" He asked, concern lacing his question.

"Some guys in my squad, they weren't exactly, well they weren't very fond of a woman joining their team."

Marasu's brows furrowed, reading his girlfriend's solemn expression, anger slowly simmering, threatening to make itself known. Forcing down the rage, he moved closer, gently beginning to massage the bruises that were beginning to fade, as rubbing newer ones could do more damage than it would heal. Moving across her body, one hand settled on a muscle knot on her shoulder, the other softly massaging her thigh. Sighing contentedly, Yumiko leaned further into Enatsu's shoulder while he worked on relaxing her tensed muscles.

Eventually, Marasu had finished, much to Yumiko's disappointment. After she had dressed, Marasu once again lifted her, carrying her to their bed. Kissing her forehead, he walked into the kitchen, providing his captive a sandwich and water, before slipping back into bed, a hand instinctively wrapping around Yumiko, protectively holding her closer.

* * *

 _Kenshi P.O.V., 1 hour, 3 minutes following "Blood Runs Deep"; 4:00 A.M._

Instead of the usual gong every morning, the ninja were awaken an hour early, to the sound of gunshots. All four ninja scrambled out onto the deck, barely awake and rushing to find the source of the noise. Once all the ninja were present, Kenshi cleared his throat, gaining their attention. Instantly, the four woke up, either wondering how and why he was out of bed so early, or what he was thinking waking them up with a gun, and how he even got the gun in the first place.

"Listen up, boys!" He shouted, his voice booming across the deck. "Your sensei has given me permission to train you, and to beat the shit out of you if you refuse to obey or keep up. Today, we'll be working on swordsmanship, and practicing our blade stances.

Both Kai and Lloyd cheered quietly, while Cole and Jay groaned. Snapping his head towards them, Kenshi chuckled. "What's wrong? Can't duel?"

Both boys hesitated, but it was Cole to speak up. "Well, we're good enough with the wakizashi (short sword) to survive, but we aren't trained with the katana like Kai and Lloyd."

Kenshi smiled warmly. "Great! This just means that I can perfect your skills with the wakizashi and teach you how to wield a katana!"

Earth and Lightning glanced at each other, trading nervous glances, before turning back to Kenshi, shrugging. "Sure. What's the worst that could happen?"

Half an hour later, the two boys had learned the hard way that things could go very wrong. Panting, Cole could barely keep up with Kai's attacks, his movements becoming more and more sluggish, despite being wheelchair-bound. _Damn, Kai has_ really _been working on being able to fight, even without his legs. Gotta give him credit for that._

Across the court, Jay was having similar troubles. Despite still being able to keep up, the lightning elemental was finding it increasingly difficult to find an opening in Lloyd's attack pattern, forcing him to play extremely defensively.

Swiftly dashing back, Lloyd run his hand across his wakizashi, coating the dull blade with a layer of ice, before lunging back in, hitting Jay in the shoulder. Shards of ice flew everywhere, with Jay hobbling back, clutching his shoulder. "Ouch! That hurt, Lloyd, seriously! Hey, hey Kenshi! Lloyd cheated!"

Kenshi spared him a glance, before shrugging and turning his attention back to Kai and Cole. "He wasn't cheating; he was improvising."

Shocked, Jay turned back to Lloyd, who shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't have swung so aggressively."

"Damn right, you shouldn't have! Whatever, I'm going inside for an icepack." Jay began walking towards the door, when Kenshi grabbed him by the injured arm, causing him to hiss.

"What the hell, Kenshi? I'm trying to get an icepack."

Kenshi shook his head. "That's the problem. If you can't handle a dull blade's swing without whining, how are you supposed to be a valuable asset to your team when you get hit with a real sword?"

Stifling a groan, Jay trudged back towards Lloyd, picking up his blade and electrifying it. Steadying himself in a battle-ready stance, Jay began dueling with Lloyd once again, this time with renewed vigor.

* * *

 _No P.O.V., 3 hours, 15 minutes following "Blood Runs Deep"; 7:12 A.M._

"What do you mean, 'Alpha Team couldn't capture the boy'? Your men had one job, ONE, and you can't even do that? Pathetic."

The lieutenant said nothing, trembling as he kept his head down.

The Overlord sneered. "Speak."

The soldier snapped his head up, fear shining in his eyes. "S-sir, we had little to no information on the man, except for that one of the women was in a relationship with him, and the rest in files, which are kept in the Cap– former captain's room."

The Overlord growled. "Then why don't you just open the damn room?"

"Well sir, the room is enforced with a mixed layer of titanium and vengestone, making it practically impossible to break."

The Overlord sighed, beckoning for the man to leave. Right before he reached the door, the Overlord focused on the man, before flicking his wrist, snapping the unsuspecting lieutenant's neck, his head nearly twisted all the way back. Two nindroids quickly rushed in, carrying the body away, likely to the incinerator, where all his possessions on base would be burnt alongside him.

Turning to his trusted general, the dark entity sighed once more. "Cryptor, send a team out, and go with them. Ensure that you capture that boy and his little girlfriend at once!"

Nodding, the nindroid general nodded, rushing out to assemble his own hand-picked team.

* * *

 **What did I say, folks, double upload! Note that I wrote this at 2 A.M., so the quality may be sub-par.**

 **Quick note just in case. This story WILL NOT have ANY sexual content. I let a few friends read this before posting, and they thought that Enatsu was rubbing Yumiko's thigh in a sexual manner (curse their dirty minds), however this is not the case. He is just trying to get her to relax, so don't worry. Sorry if this put some of y'all off, I just didn't want any confusion.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please review if it's convenient, it really helps me churn out chapters faster.**

 **Have a good day/night!**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	20. Chapter 20

**Wow, twenty chapters already, huh? Time seems to be catching up quickly. Can't believe it's already been over a year. Thanks everyone, for staying for the ride, I really appreciate it. If y'all could review, just for the overall story, I'd love that. Reviews are the lifeblood of writers, and it motivates us to write quicker and better. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!**

 **Chapter title inspired by the game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, pretty self-explanatory**

* * *

Chapter 20: Shadows Die Twice

 _Zane P.O.V., 2 hours following "You Shouldn't Be Here"; 9:16 A.M._

 **LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS CRITICAL. REQUIRES FULL SYSTEM REBOOT**

 **INITIATING REBOOT**

 **3…**

 **2…**

 **1…**

 **RESTARTING SYSTEMS NOW**

Lurching forwards, the fallen ninja startled the birds resting atop his chassis, now frantically trying to get away from the live nindroid. Confused, Zane stood up, albeit on shaky legs, and looked around, and saw nothing but trees. Despite the beauty of the lush forest, Zane found it difficult to admire the scenery when he was here alone, with no chance of contacting his brothers, who he had assumed had already declared him dead. Brushing off the dirt (which had most definitely found its way into his internal gearbox) and twigs, Zane braced himself against a tree, slowly limping his way out of the forest. Despite the dire situation, fate had spared multiple weapons for Zane to use. As he trudged his way across the forest, he encountered his shuriken and wakizashi, which he had quickly strapped to his waist belt. Continuing his way south, Zane followed a small stream downstream, hoping it would eventually lead him to a city or village, where he could safely contact the ninja. As the sun began to set, Zane found a small cave, where he made a fire, warding off predators. As he was about to enter sleep mode, three things happened, almost too quickly for him to process.

First he heard a racking noise, then the click of a safety being disabled, and finally he felt the barrel of a gun pressed against his temple.

"Give me one reason not to blow your brains out."

* * *

 _Enatsu P.O.V., 1 hour, 15 minutes following "You Shouldn't Be Here"; 10:31 A.M._

 **BEEP**

 **BEEP**

 **BEEP**

Groaning, Marasu Enatsu slapped around the nightstand, desperately hoping to hit the off button of his alarm clock. _Dammit, I guess I forgot to turn it off last night_. Finally managing the silence the incessant noise, he turned back toward Yumiko, who was also now awake.

"Do you want to stay in bed?" He grumbled, the question slightly muffled as he leaned in to place a kiss in the crook of her neck.

Yumiko giggled quietly, still amused by his antics when they had just woken up. "I think we should get up, I heard that the ninja saved Kenshi from the Red Room. Maybe if we can talk to him, we can talk to the ninja as well; who knows, maybe they can help us."

Enatsu nodded. "Okay then, let's get ready, I'll call him while you take a shower. You can take a shower on you own just fine, right?"

Yumiko rolled her eyes, slightly miffed that he would ask that type of question, but still understanding why he would ask. "Yes, Marasu, I can shower on my own. Don't worry, just get the call through."

He nodded once more, before walking out, a phone in his hand. Dialing Kenshi's personal number, one only a few operators knew, he had expected Kenshi to answer, not a young man's voice. _"Hello? Who is this?"_

Surprised, Marasu replied as well as he could, considering he was still wondering why a kid had picked up. "I'm an old friend of Kenshi's, and I'd like to talk to him. It's important."

The voice hesitated. _"Is there a name I can refer to?"_

"Just tell him Echo wants to talk."

 _"Echo, got it. Alright, I'll get to him as soon as I can. Hopefully you'll get a call back within an hour, okay?"_

"Sure." Marasu acknowledged curtly before he hung up.

Yumiko walked in soon after. "How'd it go?" She asked, a towel wrapped around her hair.

Enatsu grunted. "Not well," he huffed. "Some kid picked up, asked who I was and what I wanted. A kid! Can you believe it?"

Yumiko hummed. "Was it Takeda? You know, he is still pretty young."

Marasu shook his head. "No, Takeda's voice is deeper. Don't forget, he's twenty seven now, and I'm pretty sure he's in S.A.T. training right now. Pretty sure I saw him a week or two ago, when I was helping the instructors on drone safety and stuff."

Yumiko sighed. "Right, right. You work for the S.A.T. now. How is Rainbow so far?"

He shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Some new operators have come in besides the original crew, so we have some green beans, but nothing out of the norm."

"Sounds nice. Have you gone out on any new operations?"

Enatsu's eyes lit up at the question. Like Yumiko, he was always happy to tell stories of his time on the field, a passion both shared, one that eventually led to find each other. "Yeah, actually. Operation Red Crow, they had called it. Secure and protect situation, led by the Crimson Veil gang. I'm not sure why the government couldn't handle it, but they called us in. Attackers went in first, cleared the place out took the first objective, and tied up the hostage for us, then me and the team moved in, secured the place as well as we could. Had to defend the bedroom of a club house, of all places! We couldn't believe it, but it's not like we had much choice either way. Adler almost got killed, but Gustave managed to patch him up so that he wouldn't bleed out. Same went for the hostage. Turns out he was a high ranking gang member, so we turned him over, made sure he would ta–"

The phone next to the, began to buzz, the contact labeled "Kenshi". Swiftly picking up the phone, Enatsu spoke first, a simple,

"Hello?"

Kenshi laughed, an unmistakeable boom. _"Marasu Enatsu, it's been a while! To what do I owe the pleasure?"_

Enatsu smiled. "Please Takahashi, no need for formalities, we're far past that stage either way."

Kenshi paused for a moment, before his tome turned serious. _"Enatsu, listen kid, you're in some deep shit. You've got some Atlas boys comin' for you, a hit churned out by some big league hotshot, I'm not sure who. Listen, you need to hide, and fast, before they find you."_

Marasu chuckled. "No need to worry, they've already come, and I've already dealt with them."

The swordsman paused for a moment. _"Well, that's a relief. So, what do you need? You don't normally call for fun."_

The S.A.T. operator hesitated. "Kenshi, I heard that you're with the ninja right now, and I need help. That person that put out the hit, they want me alive, and I think it was by someone we know. Please, Kenshi, I need to talk to the ninja. I have Yumiko here with me, who isn't in very good shape, mind you, and I'm afraid that they will come back looking for round two."

Kenshi hesitated, then sighed, relenting under the heavy silence. _"Fine, but you have to be ready to leave home by tomorrow. I'll have someone go and pick you up from there, then take you to the Bounty. Bring your climbing gear; you're gonna have to climb, so be prepared."_

"Alright. Thanks, Takahashi, I appreciate it."

 _"No problem, just. . . be safe."_

"We will. Good luck."

* * *

 **A slightly shorter chapter than usual, but more on the way. Funny thing, I actually made a mistake last chapter, where Kai is sparring like nothing happened, even though he should be in a wheelchair, and I really don't know what to do with that, so let's just leave it alone for now, please.**

 **On a side note, would you guys prefer an update like this every week, or would you like a longer chapter, maybe 2-3k every other week? If you would prefer longer ones, I'd just do more P.O.V.'s and make them slightly longer.**

 **Also, what do you guys think of the story so far? I'm hoping to be able to end it on the 40 or 50 mark, because I don't want it to be too long, unless you guys do. To be honest, I when I started writing this, I didn't expect it to even make it to ten, so thanks everyone, for sticking around. Ghost readers, help me out here. Review, tell me how you think this story is doing, tell me what you do or don't like.**

 **With that, have a good day/night!**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Family Affairs

 _Yumiko P.O.V., 23 hours, 14 minutes following "Shadows Die Twice"; 9:45 A.M._

For the better part of Yumiko Kobayashi's life, she had lived under the fear of disappointing her father, constantly striving to gain his approval. Such fear had led her to join the military, and later her father's own private mercenary company. When her father had "disappeared", she knew better, deciding to change her surname, but still serving in the private military force.

Yes, Yumiko was indeed the daughter of the famed Justin Cryptor, a secret known only by Marasu Enatsu, and Kenshi. To the rest of the world, she was a nameless ghost, a helping hand extended only to those who could afford her services, known only as Hibana.

Now, she was on the run, hiding from her own family, running from the place she had called home for years, until she met Enatsu.

Speaking of Marasu, it was a miracle she had met him in the first place. Had it not been for her recklessness, and his unwillingness to leave squad members behind, she may not have survived to see her twenty-seventh birthday. After, they had stayed friends for years, saving each other's lives so many times they couldn't even count, until Enatsu's transfer to Atlas, where he finally worked up enough courage to ask her out.

That, was four years ago, and now, instead of walks down the streets of Tokyo, they were running through the alleys of Ninjago, hundreds of miles away from home. And despite Yumiko knowing that there was nowhere she would rather be than with Marasu (even if it was a life or death situation), she sometimes wondered how her life would have been if she had just decided to listen to Mei Lin and gone to M.I.T. and became an engineer, like she had dreamed and actually had a chance to pursue when she was younger.

A hand suddenly shook her out of her thoughts.

"Hey, don't go spacing out on me now." A kind face appeared beside her, and she took his much larger hand, gripping it tightly, as if she was about to lose the love of her life forever.

"Yumiko? Are you alright?" She turned to him, forcing herself to relax when she saw Marasu's concerned expression.

"Yes, yeah. I'm fine, don't worry. Relax Marasu, you worry too much for me." She laughed, albeit with a nervous edge.

Marasu's brow furrowed. "I have every right to be worried, especially after what happened to you." He muttered, a certain apprehensiveness lacing his voice.

Before either could say anything else, Enatsu's phone began to ring, an unknown number as the ID. Picking it up, he cautiously answered. "Hello?"

The same young voice from before replied. _"Hey, you ready to go? We're outside you flat, in the old blue truck."_

"Yeah, we'll be out in two minutes."

The voice went silent, then a muffled exchange of words, and a brushing noise against the microphone. " _Yeah, ok, but hurry, Jay thinks he sees a tail."_ Then the phone hung up.

Yumiko glanced at Marasu. "Time to go?"

"Yup. Grab your bags, we have two minutes to make it down."

The pair quickly began to grab their packs, before sprinting out, and down the stairs, quickly clearing six floors within time, before running out, loading their bags in the bed, before hopping in themselves, and tapping the side, signaling for driver to get moving.

Half an hour later, they had lost their tail, and arrived at the base of the Bounty's anchor, where Kenshi and the rest of the ninja awaited.

* * *

 _Zane P.O.V., direct following "Shadows Die Twice"; 9:16 A.M._

"Give me one reason not to blow your brains out."

Zane stilled, knowing that if he turned his head unexpectedly, it would surely lead to his demise, this time more permanently.

"I am going to slowly raise my hands, and I am going to turn to face you. Are you alright with that?"

The voice grunted, and the barrel eased off Zane's temple. He raised his hands, and turned to face the source of the voice. A young man faced him, although grey hairs were already settling in.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.

The nindroid shook his head. "Should I know you?"

The man sighed. "My name is Wolf. I'm the one that pitched you off your ship. I should've kil–"

Zane leapt onto the man in an instant, his short blade at Wolf's throat in a flash. He struggled slightly, the blade digging into his skin, causing him to bleed, a small trickle slipping down his neck.

Cold fury was visible on the white ninja's face, although it was well contained. "You are the one that threw me off? Why? Why did you have to separate me from my family a second time?" Pain flashed across the ninja's face, and he let go of Wolf. Stumbling back, Wolf extended a hand, hoping to help the nindroid.

"Look, I know I did some things that you probably won't forgive me for, but I have a degree in electrical engineering. At least let me patch you up."

Zane grimaced, but nodded, sitting down and opening his control panel. Kneeling down, Wolf scowled at the sight before him. "Dammit, this will be harder than I thought. Get comfy, because we might be here for a while."

Both shifted until they comfortable, and Wolf got to work immediately. After a while of sitting in silence, Zane finally spoke up. "What is your name?"

Wolf looked up, a quiet surprise on his face. "Oh, uh, my name is Ryan. Ryan Ashina. You?"

Zane smiled. "Zane. Zane Julien. I apologize for lashing out earlier, that was slightly unnecessary."

Ryan shook his head. "No, I get it. I would've done the same in your position. I probably deserved anyways. I shouldn't have gone through with the mission."

"Then why did you?"

The soldier hesitated. "Well, when a merc dies on the job, but still completes the mission, their family get the soldier's pension, and a lifetime bonus, depending on how long they had served with the company. I've been trying to get out for a while, ever since we got the assignment with the Big Man, so I figured, if I can make them think I finished the mission, and fake my death, my wife and kids will get my pension, and I'll just start my life again somewhere else, maybe contact them after a few years."

Zane nodded. "I understand. I am sorry, but if there is any way the ninja can help you, I assure you we will try after this is all over."

Ashina smiled as he closed the panel, signifying his completion. "Thanks, but I don't think there's much you can d–"

Zane felt the blood before he processed what had happened.

Hearing choking noises, he glanced up, only to see Ryan staring back at him, choking on his blood, an arrow lodged in the center of his neck. Slumping over, Ryan lay silent as he heaved his final, pained breath, staring at Zane, an arm pleadingly extended toward the nindroid. Zane shot up instantly, sparing nothing but a quick glance back, before sprinting off into the darkness, his blade in one hand, a handful of shuriken in another. Tossing a random shuriken, he heard a yelp, then a curse, as the loud footsteps following slowly faded away.

Panting, Zane leaned against a tree, sliding down, his mind desperately trying to process what had just happened. _I must find a way to contact my brothers._

Deciding to just run like hell, he sprinted south-bound, until the sun finally broke through the trees, and in the clearing, Zane found a small village. For the first time in what felt like eternity, he was safe.

* * *

 **Hey fellas! So I'm on spring break now, so if insomnia decides to play this week, chapters might come more often than they should, but I guess that's good for you guys. Pulled an all-nighter writing this, and I'm writing starting another as I finishing uploading this one, so I hope you guys enjoy this week, because my tired ass won't.**

 **Anyways, I won't keep y'all long.**

 **Have a good day!**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	22. Chapter 22

**Not much this chapter, just some bonding time between Jay and Enatsu. Sorry, but the next few will be mostly dialogue, with probably a lot of important conversations, and some assimilation of the former mercs with the ninja.**

* * *

Chapter 22: Virtual Abyss

 _Enatsu P.O.V., 9 hours, 14 minutes following "Family Affairs", 6:30 P.M._

"Hey, dinners ready!"

Had Marasu Enatsu not been engrossed in upgrading his _Yokai_ , he may have heard Jay knocking on his door, and his call that followed. However, such was the case, a catastrophic mistake on his part; what ensued was a yelp and the scattering of multiple crucial parts needed to build the _Yokai_ back up.

By the time Marasu had recovered, multiple parts were already strewn across the room, many being small pieces. Scowling, he glared at Jay, who had a very sheepish look on his face.

"Sorry?" He offered, moving in to help pick up the pieces.

Enatsu sighed. "It's fine. Come help pick up the pieces, would you?"

Jay nodded, kneeling down to find the smaller screws and fine machinery. As they both picked up the last of the parts, Jay noticed the small drone laying on the table, whistling in surprise. "That's a pretty nice drone you've got there, bud."

Marasu nodded curtly. "It's called the _Yokai;_ built it myself. Quite the contraption, that. Capable of emitting ultrasonic bursts, which disorient anyone in the vicinity of the blast."

Jay grinned. "So you're the 'Echo' guy, huh? Kenshi said you were an engineering major?"

Enatsu chuckled, extending a hand out to Jay. "The name's Marasu, Marasu Enatsu. And yes, I am an engineering major. _Tōkyōdaigaku sotsugyō."_

Jay gripped his hand firmly, shaking it. "Excuse my ignorance, I haven't brushed up on my Japanese in years, but that means you graduated from Tokyo University, right?"

Echo smiled. "Yeah, I graduated from _Tōkyōdaigaku_ – sorry, Tokyo University. Sorry, I'm just used to speaking Japanese when it comes to conversations about this stuff. Most people that ask are Japanese, seeing as that's where most of my current work is."

Jay nodded, patting his jeans for his phone. "If it isn't confidential of anything, where did you get the codename Echo if you were an engineer?"

Marasu laughed as he began rebuilding Yokai. "Well, I'm not a full time engineer. For about fifteen years I worked for Atlas, four as an engineer and field controller, three as a _Sābisuadobaizā_ (service advisor) for the Japanese Metropolitan Police, or JMP, and the last eight as a private contractor, a merc, under the codename Echo, because of the Yokai's bursts."

Jay leaned over his shoulder as he worked, looking for a good view of the _Yokai's_ internals. As he watched him work, Jay could only look on in awed silence, amazed at the skilled hands the quickly flew to repair the disassembled drone. _It looks like a souped up Roomba, but more badass._ He quickly activated his phone, texting Cole.

 _Don't wait for us @ dinner. Might be here 4 a while._

"Can you hit me with a _Yokai_ blast?"

Enatsu looked up for a moment, surprised by the question. He blinked, then stared the blue ninja down. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

Jay glared back, matching his gaze. "Can you hit me with the _Yokai's_ burst?"

Echo could only look at him in a shocked amazement. "You're serious?" Jay nodded. "Well, I could, but you have to promise me if one of your friends walk in, you're explaining, and if anything happens to you during or after the blast, you can't blame me for anything."

Jay nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah of course. But can you just blast me once, I wanna see how it feels!"

Enatsu, distracted, let his hand slip, causing sparks to go flying from the _Yokai's_ internals. _"Kuso tawagoto!"_ (Fucking shit!)

He nearly dropped his tools, but opted to push deeper into the wiring, causing him to be shocked by the exposed wiring multiple times, but he eventually managed to pull out the wires, essentially breaking it. "Dammit, that's the fourth one this month!" He groaned, leaning back and covering his face with his hands. _"Motto tsuyoi waiyā o kau hitsuyō ga aru._ " (I need to buy a stronger wire)

Jay backed away, despite his resistance to the sparks. "Why don't you buy stronger wires?"

Enatsu nearly threw the dismantled _Yokai_ at him. "I just said th– you don't speak Japanese, right. Sorry for lashing out, but this is the fourth _Yokai_ I've had to make and broken in the past month."

Jay looked on in amazement. "You build all these guys by hand? How long does it take?"

Marasu stared at him in confusion. "Of course I make these on my own, how else would I make them? And it takes about a four or five days, six if I'm busy that week. It used to take me longer but I make a bunch of frames every few months, so then all I have to do is connect the wiring and set it up to be compatible with my phone."

Jay sighed mournfully. "I wish I was this good at this stuff. Everything I make either works for two weeks before breaking down or blowing up in my face before I even use it!"

Echo chuckled. "Don't worry, kid. It took me four years to get the _Yokai_ working properly. The first time it really worked, it could only sustain one burst before completely exploding. If you really need help, I could help with any projects you're working on now, it's not like I can do much now that _Yokai's_ broken, and most of my frames are back at home."

Jay's eyes lit up at the proposition. "Yeah, I'd love that! But for now, I think dinner sounds nice. I'm pretty sure everyone's eaten but us now."

Marasu nodded. "Some food sounds nice right now. Besides, if I don't, Yumiko's gonna get on my case about 'being too focused on _Yokai'_ again. A few years ago she forced me off active duty for three weeks because I 'spent too much time' in the robotics workshop."

Jay laughed as he walked out to the kitchen, Marasu close behind him. Finding the kitchen empty, they helped themselves to dinner, _yakitori_ and _soba_ , courtesy of Yumiko. As they finished, Enatsu offered to wash the dishes, a deal Jay eagerly accepted, before walking but to his room to turn in for the night.

As Marasu worked quietly, his mind drifted, reminiscing of when he was a field operator, of the friends he had made in his time at Atlas, and of home. As he pondered such thoughts, he was reminded of one Ryan Ashina, a boy he had grown up with, and joined Atlas with, both placing highest in their respective classes.

What he didn't know, was that at the exact same time, he was dead in ditch, in the middle of a forest, never to be seen by his family or friends ever again.

* * *

 **Again, sorry for the lack of action recently, and that will continue for a while. Unfortunately I've just been losing focus, and I need to get back in the groove of how I used to write**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Severed Ties

 _Cole P.O.V., 12 hours, 16 minutes following "Virtual Abyss"; 6:46 A.M._

"Hey guys, mail's here!"

As Cole braced himself for the incoming flood, the sound of multiple footsteps echoed across the _Bounty._ Jay, being the fastest of the bunch, scrambled towards Cole, arms stretched out to grab the envelopes. The rest of the crew soon arrived, Kai wheeling in, Nya close behind him, Yumiko and Marasu walking in together, the latter having a severe case of bedhead, and Kenshi filing in last, a steaming cup of coffee clutched in his hand. Cole kept the mail away from Jay's grabby hands until he had calmed, then scattered the letters across the table.

As Cole sorted through the various papers, he found one that stood out, an unfamiliar symbol etched on the front. Holding it out, he looked around the table. "Does anyone recognize this insignia?"

The three former mercs glanced at each other, a moment of hesitation that did not go unnoticed by the ninja. At last, Kenshi spoke up. "Yeah, that's the CTSO's emblem," he spoke softly. "Give me that, we need to see who it's from."

Cole wavered for a moment, before handing the envelope over, watching Kenshi closely. The captain furrowed his brows, before passing it to Marasu.

"It's from Marcus."

Enatsu's eyes widened at the announcement, then settled to a blank stare.

"He's dead," he stated bluntly.

Kenshi shook his head. "It's from Marcus, I'm telling you. Here, just read it."

Marasu took the letter, reading it over quietly. When he finished, he shook his head in disbelief. Giving the paper to Yumiko to read, he scoffed. "I can't believe it. After all these years, Marcus comes out of nowhere saying he wants to talk. What would Ryan say about this? I don't think he's even talked to Ryan in years, ever since he, _left_."

 _Who the hell is Marcus and Ryan?_

Cole cleared his throat, before asking the question that had settled in both his and Jay's mind. "Wait, who's Marcus and Ryan, and why are they important?"

Yumiko chuckled ruefully, as if recalling a memory she wished not to remember. "Ryan and Marcus Ashina were two men we used to work with. A few years ago, Marcus went rogue, or so we thought. He stabbed Marasu in the back, quite literally.

He's known both for since they were kids, and they all joined Atlas around the same time, but split for different divisions. Marcus went to the CTSO, Counter Terrorist Special Operations, Ryan to the COIN, Covert Operations Infiltration Network, and Marasu the ATPD, Asset Targeting/Protection Detail."

Kenshi nodded, humming. "I remember the Ashina boys, they were hard-working and had a strong moral code, which was why we were confused as to why he had back-stabbed Marasu."

Marasu grunted, rubbing the old scars on his back. "We were like brothers, until Marcus betrayed us. We assumed he had joined some underground organization, but not as an undercover agent to gain intel. Hold on a moment, I have to tell Ryan about this." He began to walk out, Yumiko following behind him closely.

Once both mercenaries had left, Kenshi sighed softly. Shaking his head, he turned to the ninja. "I'm sorry if that was difficult to follow, those two have been through enough to compensate for another two lifetimes."

"How'd they meet each other?" Kai spoke up suddenly, his lack of a filter taking the others by surprise.

"Kai!" Nya began to scold him.

Kenshi chuckled, "No, it's quite alright; I've met more unruly recruits than him. If you really want some of the story, you should ask one of them. If you want to really get to know them, ask both. The two of them have truly interesting stories."

"But what about you? What can _you_ tell us about them?" Kai pressed, suspicion not-so-subtly creeping into his voice.

Kenshi hummed, "That's not for me to say. Like I said, if you wanna learn more, ask them yourself. I know Bluebird's already tried with Marasu."

The rest of the room turned to Jay, who blushed and looked away in embarrassment. Kenshi chuckled, before beginning to walk out. He turned at the doorframe, looking back at the ninja. "If you fellas really wanna learn about them, please be patient. They've got enough layers of armor that any brash advances will just get bounced off. Enatsu might even start to throw punches if you piss him off enough, so just be careful."

Then ninja all looked at each other for a moment, before a silent agreement was decided upon.

 _Break down the mercs. Find more about them._

* * *

 _No P.O.V., directly following previous events; 7:02 A.M._

"Hello?"

"I need to patch a call through to Ryan Ashina, Staff Sergeant in COIN."

Marasu sighed, beginning to get annoyed. "Callsign Echo, ATPD; former."

Marasu turned to Yumiko, who was patiently sitting on the bed behind him, lowered himself to sit beside her. In return, Yumiko placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, pulling him towards her, a gesture Enatsu leaned into, placing his head on her shoulder, resting in the crook of her neck. He put the phone on speaker, placing it between the two.

"Sir, I'm sorry to inform you that Ryan Ashina was killed in the line of duty two days ago. I'm very sorry for your loss."

Stunned silence.

The two were silent for a beat. Two beats. Three.

Yumiko was the first to recover, her free hand covering her mouth.

"Oh god."

Marasu's reaction would even be perceived as worse than if he were to normally respond; he was completely silent, only leaning farther into Yumiko, who was rubbing circles into his back, a weak attempt to console him.

What the two weren't aware of, was that Nya had been walking past their room when the news had been broken. Her ear pressed to the door, she slowly backed away, before walking about as if she hadn't just heard what she had. Despite her best efforts, she found herself in front of Kenshi's room, knocking on the door.

Behind the door she heard a muffled, "Come in!"

Opening the door hesitantly, she faced the rogue soldier with a sorrowful gaze. Noticing her mournful expression, he looked up from cleaning his handgun. "What's up? Why the sad face?"

Nya faltered, searching for the right words. Eventually she gave up, bluntly stating,

"Ryan Ashina is dead."

Kenshi gave her a hard stare. "Kid, that ain't funny. Cut that out."

Nya shook her head. "I'm not kidding. Enatsu just called someone, and I heard as I passed by."

The swordsman's face softened. He muttered a quick "thanks" before racing out to Marasu and Yumiko's shared room, rapidly knocking on the relatively soft door. A quiet conversation ensued, until a softer voice finally said, "I'll take it."

The door opened with a soft _click,_ and Yumiko's face peeked through, warily looking at the older man. "Hey Takahashi, what do you need?"

"I know, Yumi, you don't need to hide it."

The girl stared at him for a few moments, before she softly exhaled, leaning against the wall. "You might want to talk to Marasu first; he won't say anything about it."

The older man smiled softly, slowly approaching the younger operator. "Hey Enatsu, how're you holding up?"

The latter raised his head, a mournful look in his eyes. "How do you think, Takahashi? I just got news that a man I knew as well as a brother died. What am I supposed to tell Marcus?"

"I'm not sure, but for now, I think we need to find him first, in case whoever killed Ryan will be going after him next."

Marasu sighed, reluctantly taking the hand Kenshi had offered him, and raised himself from the bed, much to Yumiko's delight. Eventually, after contacting Marcus' handler, they reached his number, found a safe, public area to meet, and set out to reunite.

Before the trio could leave however, they were stopped by Kai, who had blocked the door out with his wheelchair.

He scanned the three over, noticing a drop leg holster on Marasu, and hip holsters on Yumiko and Kenshi.

"Where do you think you guys are going?" He asked, eyeing a duffel bag Marasu had been carrying.

"What's it to you?" Marasu snapped, taking the others by surprise as he aggressively took a step forwards.

Yumiko quickly placed a hand across his chest, effectively stopping him, as he was one of the few smart enough to know not to cross her. "Hey, calm down. We aren't about to hurt one of the people who have given us a home the last few days. Just tell him whats in the bag."

Enatsu, stubborn as he is, hesitantly backed down, still staring daggers at the fire ninja. "Three _Yokai,_ so I can set them up around where we need to be."

Kai still stared at the bag, noticing that it was quite heavy, seeing as Echo had been leaning towards that side. "No, there's more. I'll ask again; what's in the bag?"

Marasu looked pleadingly to the woman beside him, but she only nodded in approval. He sighed in defeat, opening the duffel bag. "My Remington 870 shotgun, three _Yokai,_ a P226 loaded with blanks for Marcus in case, and an M4 Carbine for Yumiko."

The fire ninja nodded approvingly. "That's a helluva lotta firepower you guys are packing. Mind if I ask why?"

"Do I _have_ to answer?" Enatsu asked dryly.

Both Yumiko and Kai responded at the same time, a tired _"Yes"._

"We're going to meet Marcus. We had set a time to get there, but I had _planned_ on arriving a little early so that I could set up my _Yokai_ to spot for anyone uninvited in case they were targeting Marcus as well."

As the merc finished, he noticed that Kai was gazing at him intently. At last, he wheeled aside, allowing them to leave. Enatsu all but raced out, hooking himself up to the railing with his rappelling gear, throwing the rope over the ship, and swiftly sliding down after it, just as he had done so many times in operations working for the S.A.T.

Yumiko soon followed after, vaulting over the railing and down into the city. As she touched back down onto stable ground, she noticed Kenshi beside Marasu, the latter not having noticed the former.

"Wait, how did you get down before me?" She asked, puzzled. She hadn't seen him go down before her, had she?

The swordsman only grinned in response. "Raven's Mist," he stated, much to the two operators confusion, and Marasu's surprise, having not noticed him, despite his keen senses.

Shaking off their shock, the three began to walk down to the rendezvous site as casually as they could with pistols strapped to them and a suspicious duffel bag in one of their hands.

* * *

 _Enatsu P.O.V., 1 hour later; 8:05 A.M._

As Marasu Enatsu finished setting up his _Yokai_ across various places in the courtyard, he couldn't help but wonder if it was a trap. He had heard stories of men who were lured by the thought of reuniting with close friends, only to be captured by the enemy, spanning back to the first Ninjagian Revolution. The thought had been following him since reconnecting with Marcus, but he had to hope; after all, he had to know what had happened after, well, after he had been stabbed.

Finally finished, he walked to the bench that the three had occupied, activated his wrist-mounted device, and checking his _Yokai,_ making sure that they were in good spots. Hefting the duffle bag up to his lap, he slowly unzipped part of the cover, carefully looking over the shotgun and carbine in the bag, making sure that it was ready for use as soon as shells or a magazine was loaded in.

As he set the bag aside, he heard a distinct whistle, one he knew very well; the whistle he and the Ashina boys had made to distinguish one from another without speaking. Looking up, he saw a man dressed in fatigues walk towards him, jet black hair slicked back, a briefcase in one hand, the other tucked in his pocket.

Enatsu got up, quickly striding towards the Ashina brother. Hand extended, Marcus greeted the operator with a small smile. Accepting the hand, Marasu shook his hand firmly, a determined glint in his eyes. "Before anything else happens, Marcus, why?"

Ashina sighed, looking everywhere but Marasu's eyes. "Masa, you wouldn't under–"

Echo punched him in the shoulder, glaring daggers at him. "Marcus, we've both grown, and you know it. Just tell me, dammit."

Marcus reluctantly continued, a nervous glance spared to Yumiko and Kenshi. "I had orders to join the Yakuza gang, and their initiationwas to take you out; they were still bitter after you halted their attempt to kidnap the S.A.T. captain a few years prior."

Marasu grunted. "I thought they'd forgotten about that. Anyways we need to get you outta here. C'mon, we need to get you a gun."

He waved him along, before fishing the handgun out of the duffel bag, pressing it against Marcus' chest. The group quickly got up, making their way back to the _Bounty,_ cutting through alleys.

As they passed through one alley, however, in the blink of an eye, a group of masked men surrounded them, katana in one hand, a chain in another. One lashed out first, chain whip latching around Marasu's wrist. Struggling against the whip, Enatsu tugged in a futile attempt to loosen it; if anything, it made it tighter and tighter. Suddenly yanking on the chain, Marasu was dragged along, until he was face to face with one of the men, who quickly locked him in a choke. His hands instinctively flew up, clawing at the hands that were slowly cutting off his oxygen supply.

Yumiko reacted almost as quickly, moving behind Marcus, pressing a pistol against his temple. "It was you, wasn't it? You led them to us!"

As he was locked in the chokehold, endless thoughts raced in Enatsu's mind. _Is it finally my time? Before I even got the chance to propose to Yumiko?_

 _Is this how I go? Choked out by someone I don't even know in an old alley?_

As he watched the situation unfold, he noticed an ever increasing pressure on his airflow, until he began to find it impossible to breathe, and the world went black, Yumiko's cries falling on deaf ears.

Although he wouldn't hear it, a loud _crack_ split the air, and a body crumpled to the floor.

* * *

 _Cryptor P.O.V., 12 hours following "Virtual Abyss"; 7:05 P.M._

"Is he still unconscious?"

And inspector stepped forward. "Yes sir. But before you enter, you must know this; we checked the implant, and it was only partly functional. Something must have damaged it over time. If you try to use to override protocol, there is a slight chance it may not work, and instead activate the enhancement agents."

Cryptor sighed. _Curse the medical team's inherent inability to implant_ one _thing correctly._ He would have to speak to them about that later. Striding into the dilapidated room, he saw a crumpled body in the corner, unmoving. Treading lightly, he slunk towards the prone figure, delivering a swift kick to the gut. A loud cracking noise followed. The prisoner groaned, shifting onto their back, eyes opening slightly, weakly clutching their ribs.

"Been a while, Enatsu," the nindroid chuckled darkly. "The last time we had met you were asking Justin for his blessings to court Yumiko."

The general sneered when Marasu didn't get up, and delivered another kick to his ribs, eliciting another pained groan. "Get up, I'm not finished with you."

"Do you remember what we did to you? The ideas we planted into you mind?" Cryptor stalked around Enatsu, who struggled to get up. Eventually, he rose, stumbling into the cement wall. Cryptor backed away, giving him space to breathe.

"Wh–what do you mean 'what you did to me'? You don't even know me!" The younger man croaked, his voice hoarse from lack of use, as he gently held his obviously broken ribs, leaning against the cold wall.

The general laughed, the sound reverberating off the walls. "You _never_ loved Yumiko. Before enlisting, you had your eyes set on Mei Lin. We planted the idea that you loved her instead to enforce obedience, seeing as you had a track record for disobeying superiors."

 _A problem we shall soon fix._

Enatsu coughed, his entire form rattling along with it. "No, no that's not true. That can't be true."

The former soldier was visibly shaken, much to Cryptor's pleasure.

 _Weakling. If only you realized how much you truly loved her._

"Oh, but it is. I'll make things easy for you; either join me, and betray her and the ninja, or I use the recall code, and I force you to do it either way?"

Marasu shook his head in disbelief. "Who are you anyways? And why would I do anything you say?"

 _Because I am your worst nightmare._

The nindroid held his tongue, chuckled instead, rushing forwards and pushing him against the wall, hands pressed against his throat. "Submit, and you will not suffer nearly as much as I want you to."

Daring to look him in the eye, Marasu spat at him.

"Like hell I'd ever side with you."

Cryptor sneered back, reciting the trigger phrase as clearly as he could. "The rain falls when it may."

 _And now, you are mine._

Feeling the younger man go slack, the general let go of his throat, taking note of the angry red marks left on him after both his kidnapping and his most recent choking.

"Will you comply now?"

The man hesitated, then answered with absolute confidence.

"Yes."

* * *

 **Hey fellas, sorry for dropping outta nowhere again. You might have noticed that this chapter is significantly longer than normal. That's for compensation, and this chapter will serve as the last two weeks and this week's. Hopefully I can get back onto schedule soon, but I'm not sure.**

 **Anyways, this is actually a pretty important chapter, because the introduction of Marcus will later on expose what caused the fall of Atlas.**

 ** _And_ I've said too much. **

**Oh well.**

 **Oh, and Enatsu's been brainwashed(?). I'm not really quite sure what I did either, which probably isn't good, but I think Cryptor brainwashed him.**

 ** _Oh, oh_ I get it now. So basically, all Atlas soldiers have a special phrase that I think makes them completely obedient, even if their mind disagrees. Think of it as an inhibitor chip. So Enatsu's phrase was "the rain falls when it may". **

**Well shit. I guess Masa's working for the bad guys now. I have absolutely no regrets.**

 **Anyways, have a good day/night**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	24. Chapter 24

**So I forgot to mention this for a while because I keep forgetting to mention it, but Enatsu actually has an arm sleeve, called the Shinobi Gauntlet, which adds few little advantages to his left arm. To compensate for the slight retcon, we'll just say that he decided not to use it for as long as he wasn't in direct combat positions, like if he were at home, since he would have no use for it.**

 **Also side note; with the help of a friend of mine, I've determined that the affliction Enatsu is under is effectively a curse that will push his consciousness to the back of his mind, and his body will obey whatever either Cryptor or the Overlord command him to, like for example to duel Yumiko, or to act a certain way, i.e. act impassive, etc. However, he will nonetheless act more aggressive, as his consciousness is constantly battling for dominance again. I hope this clears things up, in case anyone was wondering. (Note: for as long as he's under this "curse", I will be referring to him as just "Enatsu" or another title, but never his first name)**

 **With that, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 24: Broken Promises

 _No P.O.V., 3 hours following "Severed Ties"; 10:00 PM_

"Are you ready to face your new lord?"

". . . Yes."

Cryptor nodded to his newest weapon. "Then go, prove yourself to our cause."

Rising from his eased stance, Enatsu flexed his Shinobi Gauntlet, testing for his tools, many of which resembled those found in Swiss knives, in addition to many other, more deadlier, gadgets.

As Cryptor opened the grand door, Enatsu swiftly followed him in, before dropping to his knee once he approached the Overlord.

"You child, _you_ are my destined champion. Will you, _chūjitsuna shinobu_ (faithful shinobi),serve me as your lord?"

" _Hai, omo yo_ (Yes, lord)." The soldier kept his head lowered, a traditional sign of respect. After a moment's beat, the Overlord waved his hand, allowing him to focus his gaze on his new master.

"Rise, you are now one of us. From now on, all men here are to treat you with the utmost respect, Cryptor included. If any dare to refuse you, report to me at once, and they will be punished accordingly. You are my master weapon against the ninja, whom you will infiltrate. Your trigger word shall be 'faith', and you will act on that _only_ if _I_ am to say it, understood?"

The shinobi nodded. "I understand loud and clear, my lord."

"Good, good. And remember child, you are _not_ to use the Shinobi Gauntlet unless you are provoked, yes?"

"Yes, Master. I understand."

* * *

 _Yumiko P.O.V., 4 hours, 34 minutes following "Severed Ties"; 4:34 AM_

"–you've gotta wake up, Yumi. Marasu's back."

As Yumiko's eyes slowly fluttered open, she saw Kenshi, sitting by her side, gently shaking her arm, trying to awaken her without triggering her protective instincts, honed from years of combat. Gradually beginning to sit up, Yumiko scanned the room, eyes searching for any unwanted guests.

Kenshi grinned suddenly, much to Yumiko's bewilderment. "What? Is there a fairy on my head?"

The swordsman shook his head, chuckling softly. "No, but Masa's back. Figured you should be the first to know, seeing as to how everyone else is still asleep."

Yumiko's face instantly lit up, much to the older man's happiness. "Really? Where is he? Can I see him now?"

Kenshi laughed quietly. "Yes, but know this: when I first brought him up, I saw him with a the Shinobi Gauntlet on, which raised a few red flags, but I let it slide, figured he'd wandered around, and had kept it on for protection. Now I'm not trying to spoil the moment, but keep an eye on him, I'm not quite sure this is the same Marasu that you've shared a bed with."

The younger Kobayashi nodded, her mind beginning to form wild theories. "Yeah, I'll be careful, promise."

The older man nodded, extending his hand to pull the former out of bed. Accepting the hand, Hibana allowed herself to be pulled out of the warm embrace of bed, and towards her beloved. As she entered the kitchen, her senses were immediately bombarded with the distinct smell of death. As she lay her eyes on Enatsu, she noticed multiple gashes littered across his bare back and shoulders, some overlapping the dragon tattoo sleeve, others reopening scars closed long ago. Rushing forwards, she wrapped him in a warm embrace, careful not to put too much pressure on the wounds.

"Yumi, I'm fine, don't worry so much." Enatsu winced, careful not to show that he was in too much pain.

Eventually, she released him, a lingering hand still lightly resting on his shoulder. "Okay, I have faith that Kenshi can patch you up?"

While the Takahashi nodded, Enatsu's eye twitched, a movement that did not go unnoticed by the eldest man's keen eye. "Yeah, we'll be fine. Right Masa?"

The younger man nodded in agreement. "Yep, we will be _just_ fine."

* * *

 _Kai P.O.V., 2 hours following "Severed Ties"; 6:30 AM_

Many people cannot function properly without a cup of coffee in the morning. Kai was one of those people, so when the on-board phone began to ring, he was visibly agitated. Despite this, he still wheeled over to pick up, ready to unleash a few very choice words.

What he wasn't ready for however, was a conversation with his assumed dead brother.

"Hello? Is this the Ninja?"

Kai, voice still coarse from lack of use, cleared his throat, be fore proceeding. "Yeah, Kai speaking. Who are you and what do you need?"

A moment of silence, then a sigh. "Kai, it is Zane. The one who was pitched over the deck of the _Bounty?"_

And with that, Kai was instantly awake. "Wh–what? Shit, Zane, I am _so, so_ , sorry. I haven't heard you speak in so long I think I was starting to forget the sound of your voice. Here, hold on a sec, lemme go get the other guys."

The nindroid's distinct voice rang through clearly. "Of course, take all the time you need."

Hurriedly wheeling himself down the hall, he firmly knocked on all the doors, all whilst yelling, "Zane's on the phone! Zane's on the phone!"

Out of said rooms emerged three ninja and a samurai, eyes clouded over with drowsiness, but still eager to hear from their long-lost brother. Quickly following Kai back out into the kitchen, where the phone lay, Zane waiting patiently on the other end.

Before Kai could reach over to pick up the phone, Jay snatched up the phone, shakily bringing the phone up to his ear. "Z–Zane? Is that really you?"

A soft chuckle on the other end. "Yes, Jay, it really is me. If you would not mind, I would like to request a vehicle to be sent to me. I am currently residing in Senpou Temple, just outside the city."

Jay smiled, thankfully to the gods above that his brother wasn't really dead, but currently safe, in the welcoming hands of the monks in Senpou Temple.

"Yeah, I'll come over soon. I'll bring you some new gear, in case your old set got lost. I even upgraded a few thing for you while you were gone."

Another quiet laugh. "Alright then, Jay, it is agreed. Would Saturday be a good time to meet? The monks are often busy everyday except for then, and they do not mind visitors then."

"Sure, Saturday it is. Stay safe until then."

"As to you, brother."

* * *

 **So, I'm not so happy with this chapter, but I need to stick to the schedule again, so please bear with me.**

 **As always, reviews are much appreciated, and help encourage me to write better. If you have the time, please consider dropping a review. Tell me what you did, or didn't like.**

 **Stay safe everyone, and have a good day/night.**

 **~The Titan's Shadow**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Handguns, Hamburgers, and Hostages

 _Jay P.O.V., 4 days, 3 hours, 30 minutes following "Broken Promises"; 10:30 A.M._

Stepping foot onto Senpou Temple, Jay had expected to see Zane, healthy and smiling, ready to come home.

Instead, he was greeted by monks, all bowing respectfully, but keeping a safe distance. As one gestured to follow them, Jay beckoned Kai along with him, dutifully pushing his wheelchair along once he got close enough. Once led to a large mahogany wall, he pushed against the wood, opening the false wall.

Before him, was the white ninja, sitting on a bed, back towards him. His hair was disheveled, gashes across his bare torso. Turning around, he saw the blue and red ninja, quickly rushing to find a shirt in an attempt to conceal the scars he had acquired.

Zane damn near popped out of his body, shocked to see his brothers. "Jay! I did not expect you to arrive so soon!"

While Jay had expected a few scratches here and there, he was astonished by the amount of angry marks there were littered across the nindroid's back and arms. "Wh–what happened to you?" He gestured, or rather flailed his arms, towards the mess of soon-to-be scars in his back.

The nindroid's gaze fell downward. "I was. . . pursued, by an unknown assailant. After the crash, the man that was supposed to capture me repaired me instead, but he, he paid the price for his kindness. An assassin killed him, then pursued me until daybreak, where I had found a small village.

The people there treated me kindly, but when I saw the man lurking near again, I was forced to leave. Then I was forced to repeat the cycle over and over, until eventually he stopped following me. I do not remember much of what had happened after, however the next thing I remember was here, in the Senpou Temple."

As he finished his story, Jay couldn't help but surge forward, enveloping his brother in a tight hug. "I am so sorry for not doing more. I could've done something, _anything_ , but instead I just stood there!"

Taken aback by the sudden act, Zane stood stock still for a moment, before gently patting the blue ninja's back. "Do not feel so bad, Jay, there was not much you could have done without putting yourself or others at risk; I harbor no ill feelings toward you, and I never will."

Smiling as he pulled away, Jay glanced towards the white and red ninja. "Say, you guys wanna go to that new burger place? I heard it's pretty good!"

Shrugging, both seemed quite indifferent, which was a yes in Jay's book, making him grin even wider. "Great, let's get going then!"

As he bounded off, Kai turned to Zane, pulling him to down for a hug. "We missed you. _I_ missed you. Thank FSM you're back," he mumbled.

Having leant down to reach the fire elemental, Zane opted to kneel, putting him in a position in which he was eye level with Kai. "I missed all of you as well. Now let me see your legs; they _are_ healing I assume?"

Stifling a laugh, Kai nodded. "Yeah, 'course it's healing. Nya made sure that everyone was to be tended to after you got pitched off the _Bounty._ "

Smiling lightly, Zane nodded, already beginning to wheel Kai out as he got up. Slowly walking through long corridors, Kai realized that this was the first time in which he had felt peace, _real_ peace, like a wave of calm serenity washing over him, since Zane had first been captured. Both enjoying the quiet peace, they braced the selves for Jay, whose giddy exuberance was sure to wear them down, the promise of lunch as their only respite from the blue ninja's hyperactivity.

* * *

 _Enatsu P.O.V., 4 days, 4 hours following "Broken Promises"; 11:00 A.M._

Waking up next to Yumiko was usually comforting, like a warm blanket, but today, no, the last few days, he had felt nothing, just a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had deduced it to a common cold, maybe something slightly worse, but nothing that should keep him bed-ridden. Yumiko had agreed, allowing him to roam. However, the more time he spent in his waking hours, the more agitated he had become, especially toward Yumiko and Kenshi.

Twice he had snapped at her when she had tried to help him, and thrice he had nearly attacked her, feeling no remorse, no sympathy when his fits of uncharacteristic rage had passed. He had never apologized, which had greatly worried both Yumiko and Kenshi, both of which had been warily monitoring his actions every since his unexpected return. Even now, the Ninja were beginning to worry.

All the while, a voice had been whispering in his mind, telling him to commit unspeakable crimes.

 ** _Kill her._**

 ** _Kill the traitor, avenge your brother._**

 ** _Kill the Ronin, he betrayed us._**

Brushing the voices away, he focused himself on the punching bag, releasing whatever negative energy he had on the bag. Despite his best efforts, he still felt nothing, just a simmering anger. One night, while Yumiko had cooked dinner, he had been so snide towards her that she had abruptly dropped everything and left, briskly walking back to her (Enatsu had been banished to the couch days earlier) room, shocking the entire crew, all eyes towards the Japanese man, while he merely shrugged, leaving the room for the training room instead.

Now, he looked around, a firm circle surrounding him. Days of pent up aggression beginning to pour through, snapping at anyone that tried to get closer to him. Taking a quick assessment of the situation, he noticed that the Traitor was not present, possibly off on another task. Taking up a defensive stance, he prepared himself for any incoming attacks from his front.

Despite this, he had not bothered to watch his rear. Punished for his inattentiveness, the Traitor came about behind him, throwing him to the ground, pinning him to the deck with a firm knee, handgun pressed to his temple. Desperately squirming in an attempt to escape, he quickly realized it was a foolish move when the muzzle was pressed more forcefully against the side of his head.

Finally settling down, he pressed his hands against the floor, palms facing down in a surrendering gesture. "Okay, what the fuck is this all about?"

Settling besides him, the Ronin knelt before him, gently tutting. "You know full well what this is about, and so does everyone else here. What are you, and where is the real Marasu Enatsu?"

Emotionless eyes blankly stared into the older man's eye. "I am Marasu Enatsu, I have no idea what you're talking about."

The Traitor's body began to shudder, the barrel easing off, just for the grip to come swinging towards his head, colliding with his nose. "God, you are just as insufferable as he is! Just tell us where he is, or I'm blowing your brains out."

* * *

 _Yumiko P.O.V., 4 days, 5 hours following "Broken Promises"; 12:00 P.M._

If you had asked Yumiko if she would have ever thought she would be holding a gun to her lover's head four years ago, she may have choked you out for even entertaining the thought, but here she was, holding a pistol to Marasu's head, even breaking his nose with it. Now, she was really beginning to lose hope, the assumed doppelgänger denying the fact that he was a fake, insisting that he was the real Marasu Enatsu. Except the real him would never be so snide, right?

A voice had been constantly asking her that exact question:

 _What if he's really like that?_

 _What if this really is him?_

 _What happened to him in his time away?_

So many questions, but not enough answers. Now the copy had the nerve to act surprised, even going as far as to act as if he had no clue what he just done. Pressing her knee father down, "Marasu" began to wheeze, his airflow severely restricted. "H–hey, _what are you doing?"_

She slammed the handgun against his nose again, this time slightly lighter. Despite her constant reassurances that this was not really him, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt strike her when he cried out in pain, his already broken nose pushed even further into the hellhole that is recovery. As his hand went for his nose, she quickly intercepted it, pressing it firmly against the deck. Eventually, Kenshi spoke up again. "Ok, that's enough. I'll ask you again; who are you and what do you want from us?"

Once the knee eased up a tad, Enatsu immediately began squirming again, this time not stopping even after being slapped. "Takahashi, you gotta help me. Whoever the hell is on top of me is good, but my nose hurts like hell, and I wanna set it back. Pleasepleaseplease, just let me up so I can set it back."

Kenshi merely knelt there, thinking for a while, before nodded, and the merc immediately scrambled away, an absolutely shocked look painting his face when he saw who had pinned him down and broken his nose. _"Yumiko?_ Yumi what the actual _fuck?"_

Yumiko growled, actually _growled_ , a finger angrily jabbed towards him. "Stop acting like him. _You_ are a fake, and we know it. Hell, even Ryan would've seen something wrong, and God knows how naïve he was!"

The man looked to Kenshi, desperate for an explanation. The swordsman groaned, pulling him by the arm back inside for questioning. Turning back, he glanced towards Yumiko, only to see she was already gone. Against her better judgement, she had gone down into the city, now in search for a decent bowl of ramen.

* * *

 **Well, I think this can truly mark the death of this story. I've written, deleted, and rewritten this story _six_ times until I felt somewhat satisfied. To be honest with you guys, I've gotten bored; this fandom just isn't for me anymore, as much as I've loved being here. I want to move to new fandoms, more specifically R6S, where I can write stories without any restrictions, seeing as how it's an FPS. **

**I won't be abandoning this quite yet, but once this is over, which hopefully will be within 5-10 chapters, I'm out. I'll be moving to Ao3, and to Siege. I'd typically say the nice "thanks" and stuff now, but I'll leave it for when I'll really be going.**

 **With regards,**

 **The Titan's Shadow**


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